Thanks to all the support from you and our friends we have reached a milestone in the journey for developing palliative care for the people of Lesotho. On 30 October 2024, Her Majesty Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso ‘turned the first sod’ at a ceremony at the hospice site where a donation of nearly LSL 1.9 million was received from the Standard Lesotho Bank.
Her Majesty the Queen, His Excellency the British High Commissioner, and Starlight Oasis of Hope founder
Many distinguished guest and supporters of palliative care graced the occasion, including Her Majesty Queen ‘Masenate Mohato Seeiso who is the patron of Starlight Oasis of Hope Hospice, His Excellency Harry MacDonald the British High Commissioner to the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health Lesotho, representatives of the WHO in Lesotho, faith-based leaders, as well as the board and stakeholders of Starlight Oasis of Hope Hospice.
The Starlight Oasis of Hope Hospice is committed to develop palliative care in Lesotho. The construction of the centre will be a significant milestone towards this goal as it will be a first in the country.
Building Capacity
In November a week long training session took place in Maseru with 22 participants from 5 health facilities attending. The multi-disciplinary trainees included doctors, nurses, pharmacists and social workers reflecting the holistic approach taken in palliative care.
A 3-member team from the Palliative Care Works charity (PCW) delivered the training programme assisted by Starlight’s founder, Tebello Lepheane with input from Dr Hassan palliative care consultant from the Senkatana Clinic in Maseru. PCW is a British consortium focusing o the development of palliative care in hospital, hospice, and home-based care settings in developing countries and resource-limited settings.
Interactive teaching was unfamiliar to most of the attendees but they took to like ducks to water and their feedback was excellent as seen below. On the last day groups were asked to plan their next steps to take forward their learning. The ideas really demonstrated their learning, understanding and commitment.
Starlight is grateful for all the help and support received from volunteers, ‘Friends of Starlight’ and the team from Palliative Care Works. Further training is planned for February 2025.
This is indeed a great step in Palliative Care services development Africa.