Locations

Situated on the banks of the Maphutseng River, near the regional town of Mohale's Hoek in South West Lesotho, Maphutseng is the new home of the Lesotho Evangelical Church's (LEC) Growing Nations in Lesotho.

Maphutseng was the site of the first missionary settlement in Lesotho, being settled by French missionaries in 1840's. The land is leased from the LEC and in addition to building new training facilities and accommodation to support Growing Nations Conservation Agriculture training, there are plans to restore the old mission building and cemetery to their former glory.

The site provides the advantage of improved access to the capital Maseru, existing buildings and space to create purpose built accommodation for the students and team.

"Maphutseng Development Framework" - PDF document detailing the proposed Growing Nations development at Maphutseng (47KB)

August and Anita Basson arrived in Tebellong, Lesotho as AIM missionaries in March 1993 and after several years of pastering the congregation there, August Basson realised that, in the midst of drought and failed harvests, he needed to help in a practical way. It was out of this realisation that the work of Growing Nations emerged and August started to develop the Conservation Agriculture work.

Tebellong is situated in the more remote Qacha's Nek region of Southern Lesotho, close to the border with South Africa. The village of Tebellong ('Place of Expectation') lies overlooking a plateau cut off from the main road network by the Senqu (Orange) River. Although scenically beautiful, this made development of the site and upscaling of the Conservation Agriculture work difficult.

Following to move of the Growing Nations base to Maphutseng in September 2008, Tebellong remains as a centre for Growing Nations work and training in this region of Lesotho.

Growing Nations have recently agreed to work with Mants'ase Children's Home, near Mohale's Hoek to provide training in Conservation Agriculture farming methods to the older orphans who are based there. One individual, previously trained by Growing Nations, is providing practical training to help implement Conservation Agriculture with the aim of equipping the children before they leave the home and also assist in helping Mants'ase become more self sufficient and reduce their food costs.