Neo's parents are grateful that she has this chance to attend high school. Her father worked in the mines in South Africa long ago, but has been out of work for years. He plants their fields with the crops that feed the family all year; corn, beans, peas, wheat, a small vegetable garden. Neo's mother takes care of the house and raises a few chickens. Their only income comes from the occasional chicken Neo's mother sells for the equivalent of $5. Neo says it is a great sacrifice for her mother that she is in school because she is not helping with the housework, but her parents wanted her to go to school so she is able to get a good job.
Neo is also fortunate in that two of her brothers work as cobblers in town. They are the only siblings to earn any money, however meager. They have managed to pay for Neo's school uniform and notebooks.
Neo is a talented student. In a school where many of the first year students fail their first semester, Neo passed all of her classes and was position 4 out of 49 students the first quarter and then moved up to position 2 the second quarter. Neo enjoys school and says her favorite subjects include English and Sesotho. Her Business class is difficult for her but she improved her grade second quarter. She is not sure what she wants to do in the future, but she said that with a high school degree, "I will be able to live a better life than if I weren't in school."
Makhaba loves school and has performed very well in it - she finished primary school in position 2 out of the 49 students in her class. Her favorite subject is English. She believes learning English is incredibly important as you cannot find good jobs in Lesotho without a command of this language. When she finishes high school, she'd like to go on to university and study medicine. She hopes one day to be a doctor, helping the many sick people in her country.
Thato would not be in high school if it weren�t for the scholarship from the Lesotho Education Fund. Despite her interest in school and good grades, her family does not have money to pay for school fees. Her father, who did not attend even primary school, is a farmer who plants the only food the family eats. Her mother takes care of the house and her two younger siblings. Both of Thato�s older brothers have not completed high school and cannot help her with school fees. Her parents managed to buy Thato�s school uniform by selling some of the corn from their fields.
Thato is a confident and energetic student, eager to ask and answer questions in class. She has been in the top 10% of her class of 51 students both of the first two quarters of school this year. Her favorite class is science, but she also likes her English class. With the HIV/AIDS epidemic impacting the health of hundreds of thousands of Basotho, Lesotho is in desperate need of nurses. With her Lesotho Education Fund scholarship, Thato has the opportunity to fulfill this need for her country.