In April 2020, MIET AFRICA realized that school closures, travel restrictions and other challenges linked to the COVID-19 pandemic were making it impossible to continue its FutureLife-Now! programmes in Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe as they were originally planned.

MIET AFRICA also realized that the pandemic was creating a major challenge for countries: How to get practical, accessible and factually accurate information about coping with COVID-19 out to the public.

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In 2020 countries around the world grappled with whether to open schools and how to open them safely in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. After Lesotho’s lockdown was over, the question of school re-opening was not as simple as setting a date and picking up from where things left off. The path to reopening schools would take planning, preparation, and commitment.

Many learners and teachers were faced with different challenges as a result of lockdown-related school closures.

Thato Tlalinyane, a learner from Mampota High School explained: “Many young girls got pregnant and were not able to go back to school. Many parents lost their jobs, and some students could not go back to school because now their parents were not able to pay their school fees when schools reopened.”

Thato added that she had to rely on self-discipline when facing the situation she found herself in as a result of school disruptions. “I learned that as students, we have to keep doing our schoolwork, even when the situation does not allow us to go to school.”

Mosiua Maboee (22) a learner at Matholeng High School, agreed. “I learned that I still have to continue doing my schoolwork – even if just for two hours a day.”

In Lesotho, across all 10 FutureLife-Now! schools, educators and learners participated in different FutureLife-Now! programmes. One such programme was the COVID-19 emergency response that included capacity building training sessions.

FutureLife-Now! empowered young people and educators to become COVID-19 leaders in order to protect themselves and others. This was one of the strategies used to help flatten the spread of the pandemic.

In follow-up interviews with learners and teachers, it was evident that the training had had a profound and positive impact. Sefora Daemane, (19), a learner at Matholeng High School, participated in the FutureLife-Now! COVID-19 training sessions and said that they were of enormous benefit. “We were taught about COVID-19, learned how we could take care of ourselves and others, how to use our masks correctly, and how to wash our hands properly.”

Lebohang Sefuthi, an educator from Matsepe High School said, “After participating in FutureLife- Now! COVID-19 educator training, I believe I will help a lot by educating others around me and in the community, and stop the spread of false information going around about the pandemic and the vaccine.”

There is hope within the gloom, according to some teachers who say that perhaps this is a moment to try to reimagine education in Lesotho, where every child learns the skills, he/she needs to succeed in life and reach his or her full potential.

“We have to be flexible as much as possible, and challenge our conventional learning and teaching methods,” said Sefuthi. “In as much as we want to interact physically with our leaners, we have to appreciate the importance of technology to ensure teaching and learning still continues amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and other pandemics that might come in the future. Can we seize the opportunity that COVID-19 presents in terms of better learning? I hope so.”

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“March 2020 will forever be known as the time all the world’s schools closed their doors.” These were the words of Lesotho Deputy Minister of Education, the Honorable ‘Mamookho Phiri, at a handover ceremony of COVID-19 equipment and hygiene support on October 16 this year.

The handover, which took place at Thetsane High School, one of Lesotho’s 10 FutureLife-Now! pilot schools was made possible through COVID-19 emergency funding from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It was facilitated by MIET AFRICA, in partnership with Global Hope Mobilization (GLOHOMO) and the Lesotho ministries of Education and Health.

Because of COVID-19 regulations, the handover attendees were limited to school principals, funders and ministerial representatives.

Equipment included face masks, face shields, thermal thermometers, soap, water tanks, and beds. This equipment was identified through a rapid needs assessment, undertaken by GLOHOMO in all FutureLife-Now! schools. According to Deputy Minister Phiri, the assessment report highlighted that key challenges facing schools relate to handwashing, enforcing social-distancing and accessing personal protective equipment.

“The report reflected that the pandemic has shown to us that WASH facilities are inadequate in many schools,” she added.

Over the past few months, schools in Lesotho have reopened and the equipment has been delivered to the FutureLife-Now! schools and adjacent health centers and clinics. This will contribute to the health and safety of all returning learners.

According to Rantsane Kuleile, FutureLife-Now! Country Manager in Lesotho, delivery of COVID-19 equipment and hygiene support “put schools in a position to ensure the safety of our children against this pandemic”.

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Prior to the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on 12 March 2020, an event in Malawi involving a handover from a donor would have been a large-scale ceremony and included ministers, government officials, donors and members of the community.

The small-scale event pledging COVID-19 emergency protective materials to the ministries of Education and Health in Malawi, although no less valuable,  illustrated the “new normal”.  The event took place on 22 September 2020 at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MoEST) headquarters in Lilongwe.

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The scourge of COVID-19 might have disrupted the lives of individuals, societies and governments across the world, but the partners of the Future Life-Now! programme determined that they would not allow the pandemic to halt communication, training and support in the 10 FutureLife-Now! pilot schools. Instead, an effective e-platform was established at all 10 schools in Malawi.

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It’s no easy job training almost 9 000 learners while keeping COVID-19 health and safety protocols in place. This is what 88 facilitators at Zambia’s 10 FutureLife-Now! schools were tasked with: Providing information to thousands of grade 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 learners about COVID-19 over an eight-day period while ensuring the safety of all concerned.

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In Zimbabwe, the coronavirus has had more far-reaching effects than what meets the eye. The pandemic is devastating the economy and threatening food security and has been most deeply felt in marginalized communities and rural areas. It is this that motivated the FutureLife-Now! programme to distribute food packs to its most vulnerable learners at its 10 pilot schools. 

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FutureLife-Now! is a regional programme designed to address the scourge of HIV and the associated challenges related to gender and climate change. To achieve its goal of reducing new HIV infections and increasing adherence to Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) amongst children and youth in the SADC Region, the programme leverages the successful SADC Care and Support for Teaching and Learning (CSTL) Framework—developed in the early 2000s and which, in 2018, reached over 30 million of the region’s learners with support services.

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Between May 2019 and February 2020, the FutureLife-Now! the team conducted a context analysis and a baseline assessment to establish the status of learners’ knowledge and reported behavior related to HIV prevention and SRH (sexual and reproductive health), and climate change.

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An important component of the FutureLife-Now! programme is the testing of a package of school-based HIV/SRHR services and support in secondary schools. The medical service fair, facilitated by Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in partnership with FutureLife-Now! and its local partner, the United Methodist Church, made a significant contribution towards this support package.

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