Action Lesotho was founded in 2005 in County Kerry, Ireland. Originally known as Twinning the Kingdoms, it quickly grew into a national organisation and was renamed Action Lesotho in 2010. In the early days the organisation was run solely by volunteers in Ireland and Lesotho, with the main activities being the building of classrooms & community centres and the provision of humanitarian aid to orphans & vulnerable children and disabled adults.
Nt Mankoe
The first Twinning the Kingdoms staff & volunteers working in Lesotho were three indefatigable and passionate people Nt Linne Mankoe, Eileen O’Leary and Colleen O’Kane. With the name change to Action Lesotho in 2010, the focus of the organisation shifted towards encouraging long-term, sustainable change through community development and skills training.
Major funding from Irish Aid allowed us to expand our projects, employ an In-Country Representative (Pippa Kearon) and grow a team in Lesotho to help implement our work. Nt Linne Mankoe remained as head of the organisation in Lesotho until he retired in 2014.
We now have a staff of 14 full-time and 7 part-time Basotho employees delivering programs in the following areas: Health & Nutrition, Skills Development, Enterprise Development and Agriculture.
We work closely with Lesotho government agencies to develop successful programs which can be rolled out nationwide.