Programs – rise International

Kick4Life Stadium of Life

August 15, 2024By Chris Theko0 comment

Stadium of Life: A Beacon of Sustainable Construction in Maseru

Maseru, Lesotho – The heart of Lesotho is beating with excitement as the innovative “Stadium of Life” takes shape in Maseru. This 1,280-seater football stadium is not just another sports facility; it is a groundbreaking testament to the power of sustainable construction and community-driven development.

An Ambitious Collaboration

The “Stadium of Life” project is the result of a unique collaboration between several influential organizations. Local charity and football club Kick4Life (K4L), which has long been dedicated to empowering young people through sports and health education, joined forces with rise International, a non-profit organization focused on creating social enterprises and building resilient communities. Together, they have partnered with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a global leader in promoting responsible management of the world’s forests, and DNV, an independent expert in assurance and risk management.

A Sustainable Vision

What sets the “Stadium of Life” apart is its commitment to sustainability. The stadium is being constructed primarily from sustainably sourced timber, a choice that not only reduces the carbon footprint of the project but also highlights the potential of eco-friendly construction methods in large-scale infrastructure. The use of timber, certified by the FSC, ensures that the materials are responsibly harvested, maintaining forest biodiversity and supporting local economies.

Community-Centered Development

The project has a strong community focus, engaging local workers and artisans in the construction process. This not only provides much-needed employment opportunities but also empowers the local community with skills and knowledge in sustainable building practices. The stadium is envisioned as a space that will serve the broader community, hosting not only football matches but also cultural and social events that bring people together.

Progress and Impact

As construction progresses, the “Stadium of Life” is already making an impact. The project has garnered attention for its innovative approach, setting a new standard for how sports infrastructure can be built in harmony with the environment. Upon completion, the stadium is expected to become a central hub for sports and community activities in Maseru, inspiring other projects in the region to adopt similar sustainable practices.

Looking Ahead

The “Stadium of Life” is more than just a sports venue; it is a symbol of what can be achieved when sustainability, community involvement, and innovative design come together. As the stadium nears completion, it stands as a beacon of hope and progress for Maseru and beyond.

Many First

The Stadium of Life notches several firsts. It will be Africa’s first FSC-certified timber stadium and the first FSC-certified project in southern Africa. The structure, certified by DNV as an FSC project, sets a new standard for responsible construction practices.

The wooden poles used in construction come from MTO Forestry’s FSC-certified plantations in Mpumalanga, South Africa. By choosing FSC-certified timber, the project directly supports responsible forestry practices.

Beyond sport, the stadium is a multi-purpose hub designed for climate change education, gender empowerment, academic tutoring, health testing, and entrepreneurship training.

The Stadium of Life fosters a connection between football and the environment. Its design, developed through a collaboration with rise’s in loco design and build training programme, features 8,584 treated Eucalyptus poles, minimizing concrete use and highlighting the potential of sustainable building materials.

Design and Build

New Learning Space For Morija Hub

July 8, 2024By Chris Theko0 comment

The doors to Morija Hub brand-new study space and library are open! The place was opened with excitement and welcomed by community members of all ages, especially the primary and high school students. The students will highly benefit from the spaces of quiet, learning, free resources, and inclusivity.

The library is open Mondays – Saturdays, 9am–5pm!

The design and construction of the library was carried out by rise, on behalf of The Hub in Morija all thanks to Glasswaters Foundation for their support of educational opportunities at The Hub!

The building is made out of an innovative construction project using shipping containers. It was officially completed and opened in March 2024 hosting a library, learning- and storage space!

The Hub’s loan-out library is open Monday – Saturday
Only loan-out library in Morija

The library is made possible with book donations from:

African Library Project
Books for Lesotho
Makosholo family
Individual donors

The structure also provides an extra classroom and quiet learning space and includes secure storage space.

Programs

New Flushing Toilets For Lithabaneng Primary School

June 24, 2024By Chris Theko0 comment

We have successfully achieved another great milestone with the completion of the construction of new flushing school toilet blocks for Lithabaneng Primary School. This forms part of the 5 Hub Schools project in the Leqele – Lithabaneng area of Maseru in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training who identified 5 high-priority schools in need of assistance. Those schools being Seboka, Leqele, Makoanyane and Lithabaneng Primary Schools and Lithabaneng High school.

The new flushing toilets that come with hand wash stations are a replacement of the old and unhygienic toilets which the students and the teachers had been using for many years. Unhealthy toilets could easily hinder children from enjoying their education and the teachers and staff can be discouraged to be at work. This is also very important for young girls to clean hygienic toilets, to ensure they do not drop out of school. All these circumstances are to be a thing of the past at Libananeng Primary School.

Action Ireland Trust (AIT) and rise take a holistic approach, which is centered around the needs of the students, teachers, principals and community members. This approach equips the teachers and principals with the right tools thus achieving the mandate of making the schools child friendly, safe and providing an improved learning environment to greatly enhance the students learning experience.

Design and Build

New Flushing Toilets For Lithabaneng Primary School

June 18, 2024By Chris Theko0 comment

We have successfully achieved another great milestone with the completion of the construction of new flushing school toilet blocks for Lithabaneng Primary School. This forms part of the 5 Hub Schools project in the Leqele – Lithabaneng area of Maseru in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training who identified 5 high-priority schools in need of assistance. Those schools being Seboka, Leqele, Makoanyane and Lithabaneng Primary Schools and Lithabaneng High school.

The new flushing toilets that come with hand wash stations are a replacement of the old and unhygienic toilets which the students and the teachers had been using for many years. Unhealthy toilets could easily hinder children from enjoying their education and the teachers and staff can be discouraged to be at work. This is also very important for young girls to clean hygienic toilets, to ensure they do not drop out of school. All these circumstances are to be a thing of the past at Libananeng Primary School.

Action Ireland Trust (AIT) and rise take a holistic approach, which is centered around the needs of the students, teachers, principals and community members. This approach equips the teachers and principals with the right tools thus achieving the mandate of making the schools child friendly, safe and providing an improved learning environment to greatly enhance the students learning experience.

Watch the video below to learn more on the journey of this project.

Design and Build

Morija Hub

May 23, 2022By Chris Theko0 comment

We are proud to be designing the expansion facilities of the Morija hub where young people will continue to gain life skills, build their confidence in skills sharing and adapt the social enterprise spirit. We are proud because this new facility will help the hub reach and impact more young people through their workshops and trainings in Digital Media by accommodating more learners. With the youth unemployment rate in Lesotho being so close to 35%, it is imperative that an Enterprise like the Hub at Morija function at it’s fullest potential in order to train young people to becoming job creators in Lesotho.

Projects

June 28, 2021By RISE INT0 comment

in loco program

in loco fellows blog series #7: Never lose hope, Give it a try

November 27, 2019By RISE INT0 comment

Some time after I completed my diploma in construction management in search for job opportunities, valuable skills and experience in the design and build industry, i come across one of my ex-classmates who introduced me to the impact of the in loco fellowship program. I never let the opportunity pass me by, I applied for the fellowship and was called for an interview. Guess what, today I am enrolled amongst the in loco fellows at rise International (Relationships Inspiring Social Enterprise).

We are currently working on the project of IDAL (Intellectual Disability & Autism Lesotho) Centre. The first thing we did for the project was to conduct a Participatory Design Workshop, the aim being to understand the clients and their needs and thereof come up with solutions to their problems with the in loco materials and talent.

The first week of the program I had to work on the tendering process where i did the costing of the project by preparing the bill of Quantities. It was an enjoyable time for me to enhance the skills and knowledge I had prior to school by using the necessary tools introduced to us by the rise team which were the bills of quantities templates, schedule of works and the rise database. Such tools are necessary in managing time, cost and effort.

Two weeks later it was my time to get to experience the role of being the site manager. Very challenging moments to execute the project, giving tasks to the other fellows and the application of the managerial skills and knowledge I got at school, conducting site meetings, preparing site reports, schedule of works and many others.

The fellowship has changed me from being a job seeker to an entrepreneur through the business sessions we are getting, fire is burning inside me to bring tremendous changes into people’s lives. I gained a lot of both soft and technical skills in the managerial system by collaborating with the fellows and the rise team who I regard are my mentors.

in loco program

in loco fellows blog series #4: Grab every opportunity that comes your way because you never know where it will lead

October 22, 2019By RISE INT4 Comments

Being a fellow changed the way I perceived myself and the world around me. After a car accident I experienced in 2015, which made me lose my memory, I never thought I would ever be myself again.

I am that nice lady, an extrovert nurturer who always wears a smile on her face, creates a peaceful environment and enjoys working with other people. Feeling incompetent because of the accident, I turned to selling printed t-shirts, caps and so on, and promoting developing companies to be well known in and out of the country. Divine Ginger Company and Tlotsa Company are my life examples.

This way of life grew into my love for working and made me think that I could become a better businesswoman because I could fend for myself and also feed my family through this business. While I was doing all these duties, I never thought I would go back to my profession as an Agricultural Education graduate. I had a fear of meeting with other people of the same profession, thinking I am no longer good enough to be in the professional world due to my memory loss during accident.

In July, when I was browsing FaceBook and advertising my stuff, I saw an advertisement for a job application from rise. It caught my attention when I found that it partnered with God’s Love Centre orphanage because as a nurturer, I gain satisfaction by helping others. So I knew it would be a great idea to be part of the in loco program.

This is my third month in rise and I feel very lucky to be part of this fellowship because it is more like a family than a job to me. Rise does not only care about work related issues but is also concerned about personal issues for each fellow. This is because I met a problem health wise, where the pin metals inserted on my pelvis after the accident broke and a doctor prescribed walking less than a kilometer a day. And I thought that day was an end of my fellowship with rise. But to my surprise, they looked for a better way for me to work so that I do not further disturb my fractures. This made me feel at home with the in loco program though this hinders me from exploring more on site works as it is a design and built environment.

I am now an office administrator. It wasn’t easy at first, but it is getting fun with time. I am learning a lot more computer literacy than before and all office administration tasks within the office environment. It is within a short period of time but I have learned so many skills. I am now an Agricultural Education graduate with office administration skills, improved computer literacy, report writing skills, events coordinating skills, quantification skills in the construction industry, carpentry skills and yet to master entrepreneurial skills and many more.

One of in loco’s goals is to transform job seekers into job creators, so this can only be accomplished by starting own businesses. In As part of the in loco fellowship rise, we are provided with business trainings every most Fridays, and this is amazing to me for it is the most important part I enjoy. Ever since I could remember, starting a business has been my dream. So I just want to put it out there that it feels amazing to be part of this fellowship. All in all, after the fellowship, I believe one becomes a better version of themselves holistically.

Berny with one of the 100 trees she managed to get donated to the project

in loco program

in loco fellows blog series #3: Success comes from good networking and a lot of experience

October 13, 2019By RISE INT0 comment

In this day and age in our country of Lesotho in order to succeed in any profession you’ve got to have connections and experience, a college diploma/degree alone does not guarantee success.

I got introduced to rise back in 2017 when one of my lecturers at my former school insisted that I should attend a lecture by rise founders and that I would get to learn a lot from the lecture. Without disappointment I did get to learn a lot; about the projects rise has done in Southern Africa that tackled major issues in less privileged communities and about sustainable building using locally sourced materials. This captured my interest in rise and I started following them and attending some of their lectures and film screenings to acquire more knowledge that I could have not get from school.

Fast forward to June 2019 I’m an unemployed graduate and struggling with my freelancing business of Architecture and Graphic Design, with a few clients under my belt. Two friends of mine told me about the in loco 2019 program and that I should apply for it as it would be a great learning experience for me where I would acquire entrepreneurial, design and construction skills. I did not hesitate and I applied for the program since I had already known about the in loco program from the previous year

My prayers were answered and I had been accepted into the program. Now into the program, the project we are currently working on is the IDAL (Intellectual Disability and Autism Lesotho) centre, first off we had to design it but in order to do that we had to understand our clients (people with intellectual disabilities and their families) and their needs. We conducted a Participatory Design Workshop (PDW), which helped us to better understand our clients and their problems, and came up with solutions together. The PDW was a new concept to me but with guidance from the rise members I quickly learned it and I would say it’s a very useful tool to have as a designer.

Jeff casting the foundations with other fellows

A few weeks into the program now on construction site I’m gaining a lot of construction experience from concrete mixing to working with timber, learning from the challenges we encounter, developing my skills through my fellow in loco fellows and the rise team and creating networks. Half of the program is the business enterprise where we are taught to be job creators rather than job seekers and I would say it’s coming along fine, I’m still open to learning more and challenging myself.

A lot of challenges have presented themselves but through hard work and dedication from me and the rest of the fellows we have yielded goods results and I can say I am proud to be part of the cohort.

Jeff, proudly standing in the centre of the IDAL Centre currenty under construction

in loco program

Lesotho, a land with a big smile

October 6, 2019By RISE INT0 comment

Lesotho, a land with a big smile enclosed in too narrow borders to release its strong energy. For me this is the sentence that best describes my experience in this beautiful country. I’m an architect, I’m from Italy and it was my first time in Africa.

The choice to fly to Lesotho and be part of the in loco fellowship came very spontaneously thanks to a dear architect friend, Luca Astorri, for whom Africa is his second home. I didn’t ask questions, I didn’t know what to expect, I trusted him and the joy on his face while speaking about it. It was enough for me to buy the ticket.

Clarissa Orsini with rise’s Founder, Daniela Gusman and Program Director, Luca Astorri

Once arrived, I was welcomed with open arms by a world completely unknown to me. It was not easy at all to have the courage to let myself free to fall in this great and profound embrace. After the first moment of dizziness the emotions overwhelmed me, everything was impregnated of joy and suffering in the same moment, I didn’t know how to behave.

It is necessary to get rid of many mental patterns and preconceptions in order to be in tune with this country and make a tangible contribution. It wasn’t easy at first but the guys from the fellowship were wonderful in helping me with this process. Being in contact with them I realized that it is not important where you come from and how you are used to doing things, there is always something new to learn and there is always a different way to teach others, there is no right or wrong approach. The only thing that matters is that you have to be open to challenges and not be scared, this is the only universal language and for me it was the only language to communicate with them and feel part of something much bigger then myself. It seems simple and for me it was, but only thanks to the people I met who have always transmitted love and understanding towards me. The first few weeks were just about this: teaching and learning.

Participatory Design Workshop with IDAL – Intellectual Disabilities & Autism Lesotho

As an architect I taught them what they needed to know at that time, we followed them step-by-step to convey the important notions and procedures to the world of work. As wonderful human beings they taught me the practicality of life, the ability to always (almost) smile, despite the surrounding conditions.

They are participating in this fellowship because they have great faith in the world and they want to make it better with their contribution for themselves, their families and their country. When they speak about something, they never do so in the singular form, the speech always includes their loved ones and their community in which they welcomed me and they made me feel part of it and I will never stop to thank them for all of this.

I feel really grateful to all this.I came back to Italy with a great joy that accompanies me every day. Even in difficult times, thinking back to Lesotho reorders priorities and makes fatigue much more bearable. It is a country that has also given me incredible landscape memories but without the people who live there it would not be the same.

I left from there with the certainty that I would come back and I would like to come back soon to be really useful for whatever is needed. One of the most important lessons I have learned is that, every now and then it is good to leave the emotions aside and bring yourself into the capacity of being practical, pragmatic, doing what is needed where and when it is needed without asking too many questions, and making yourself completely available.