Entrepreneurship & Work Skills Development Archives

Accessible Hand Wash Stations for Lesotho Towns and Health Centers

February 15, 2021By RISE INT

rise was commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to make 105 hand wash stations for the Ministry of Health and Maseru City Council to combat the COVID-19 pandemic in Lesotho. These stations have been installed in all 10 districts of Lesotho at health clinics, hospitals, child care facilities as well as busy town areas.

UNDP and UNICEF had learnt about the excellent work that had been done by our in loco alumni, xyz collaborative, in making and distributing hand-wash stations earlier in the year when an NGO called Sepheo had commissioned rise to make and install 10 emergency hand-wash stations in the Motimposo communities in Maseru, Lesotho. This project continues to help many members in vulnerable communities who do not have access to running water thus are at the highest risk of contracting the virus.

Watch a brief documentary released at the 2020 Lesotho Film festival, illustrating not only how this hand wash station project has helped address the pandemic but also how it has helped create jobs at a time of a national crises with youth unemployment and poverty in Lesotho.

Financial Training for Rural Communities

February 15, 2021By RISE INT

Scatec solar commissioned rise to conduct financial training of 36 community members in Mafeteng who are now shareholders of a company that is going to be the first of its kind in Lesotho to feed solar generated energy into the national grid. The rural community members were given a down payment for the lease of their plots of land on which the solar panels will be placed, and once the project kicks off, they will be receiving dividends on a quarterly basis for the solar generated energy.

Intellectual Disability and Autism Lesotho (IDAL) Center Project

February 15, 2021By RISE INT

IDAL (Intellectual Disability & Autism Lesotho) is a non-profit parent-led association. IDAL commissioned rise to design & construct a center that had been a dream for over 20 years but lacked funds to build. Standard Lesotho Bank and their partners gave a grant to IDAL who then recruited rise to take on this life changing project which formed the 2019 in loco fellowship.

We created a beautiful multifunctional pavilion surrounded by sensory gardens and an educational farm. It is also Lesotho’s first center specially designed for youth with autism and intellectual disabilities. The center is an ecological structure that is completely off the grid, with solar panels for electricity, a bore hole and rainwater harvesting and eco-friendly fencing that blends in with the environment. As well as multi-purpose areas for training and other activities, the center also has a multi-sensory space as well as a diagnostics room for early detection of autism and intellectual disabilities.

Learn more about the IDAL center by watching this brief video. You can also watch the design process of the Centre here as well as the findings from the Participatory Design Workshop here and Concept Designs here.

in loco 2019: Entrepreneurship Program

October 20, 2019By RISE INT

in loco 2019: was a live Design & Build Entrepreneurship Program that ran from August 2019 to January 2020.

A cohort of 13 recently graduated Basotho students from local Architecture and Construction Schools participated in this innovative fellowship program.

While building the country’s first ever centre for youth with Intellectual Disability & Autism, the fellows also went through an intense Business Training program which is comprised of classroom theoretical work as well as practical assignments such as conducting market research, compiling business plans, running social media campaigns, hosting events to mention but a few, so that by the end of the fellowship the fellows are in a position to launch their own small business generating employment for themselves and others in their communities.

As well as the business trainings the fellows were also all assigned various roles which they rotated every 2 months so that they got to practice how to run a company by taking on different responsibilities including being a site manager, site architect, buyer, plants & logistics manager, health & safety officer, quality control manager and so on.

Thus being transformed from job seekers to job creators. See what other skills they learnt by watching this video by one of the the 2019 alumni here

Invest in the future of African Entrepreneurs. Donate here

Photo of Lady and Sewing Machine in Ha'Sekantsi community

Ha Sekantsi: Sewing Project

October 20, 2019By RISE INT

In partnership with Possible Dreams Foundation we are working with 300 community members from the beautiful Ha’ Sekantsi community piloting a holistic approach to rural community development tackling access to Economic, Infrastructure and Education.

The community wants to set up a sewing project so thanks to a small grant from Amelija Vincent the community now has sewing machines and is being trained on how to make clothes and uniforms to raise income so they can afford to send their children to school and can contribute towards community projects such as the setting up of a learning center which is their long term dream.

God’s Love Centre

May 18, 2017By Road Warrior Creative

An Entrepreneurship & Work Skills Development Program

In 2018, rise designed & constructed a new building for the God’s Love Centre orphanage in Lesotho, Southern Africa using the in loco approach, a hands-on design and building experience, focused on knowledge exchange, capacity building, cooperation and development.

This, combined with entrepreneurship training, will enable the orphanage to become more self-sustaining by launching income generating activities.

rise is a registered 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization in the United States.
Donations are tax-deductible where permitted by the IRS.
Copyright © 2026 rise International. All Rights Reserved.
Designed with ❤️ by USBIT Solutions