The following is a letter from Sister Constance of the Good Shepherd order in Lesotho. She is the onsite administrator of the Bountiful Hope Educational Fund which is the successful initial effort of Mountain Kingdom Hope Foundation. Its goal is to provide orphans in Lesotho with the resources and support to further their education and to give them hope for a better and more productive life. This letter was her request for help in this effort and describes why our support is needed.

Dear Bountiful Hope Sponsors,


Lesotho is a small country whose population is only two and a half million. Our country is heavily struck by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There are thousands of people who are living with the illness. There are also orphaned children and the aged who first became nurses of their sons and daughters and guardians of their grandchildren after the death of their parents.

This HIV/AIDS has now started even taking away the aged who because of poor sanitation, lack of medication, treatment and so forth contracted the disease from their young daughters and sons during the time when they were nursing them under these poor conditions. So, this has left some children without parents or grandparents to support and care for them. In many cases small children from age ten become guardians of their own brothers and sisters. You can make a picture of a ten or eleven year old child becoming a mother or a father to her or his six or three year old siblings.

There are a few orphanages in the country that can accommodate not more than 100 orphans each. This means that many orphans are living alone in their homes. And nearly all of these orphans do not even have an chance of going to school. Those whose parents died while they were already in schools, their death means the end of their right of education.

In such struggles for survival, we encounter a lot them who go around asking for fees, money for books, clothing or food. Others are so discouraged that they express their wish verbally that they would like to die like their parents. One eleven year old girl cried to one of our Sisters, "When will God come for us (her brother and two sisters) like he did for our parents, grandparents and close relatives who could help us cope with this rough situation?"

In one instance, as a religious sister who visits families, prays with the dying, make my presence available for the bewildered, support and encourage the families, we met a 12 year old boy who said to us, "I do not see any value in being alive". This is what most of the orphans say who become parents to their own brothers and sisters. Life has no value since they are never happy.

I am expressing all these because of my conviction that if these orphans receive assistance of education they can make a difference in many other lives and in our society. In fact, through them the present situation can change completely.

Please, help me start an Education Fund for these orphans.


Sister Constance Mosakeng

During a visit to Lesotho in the summer of 2004, the founders of MKHF met Sister Constance, a nun from the Good Shepherd's order. She spoke to them about her dream: that one day all of Lesotho's orphans would be given the opportunity to attend secondary school. Sister Constance often visited children grieving over the loss of their parents and overwhelmed by their newfound responsibilities. These children frequently expressed how sad they were that, lacking the money necessary to pay for uniforms, books, and tuition, they would be unable to attend secondary school and better their futures. Moved by Sister Constance's story and her love for these deserving orphans, Bill and Harriet Bierling provided the seed money which turned Sister Constance's dream into reality. In November of 2004, Bountiful Hope Educational Fund was established with nearly 100% of the donations going directly to the orphans for secondary education.