Couple look to raise €2,500 to build house for orphaned kids in Africa
By Aideen O'Flaherty
A HUSBAND and wife team are hoping to raise €2,500 for the construction of a house for orphaned children in the African country of Lesotho, after they saw the difficulties that children in the area face during their previous visits to the country.
Stephen Sharpe (40) and his wife Caroline (36) have gone to Lesotho a number of times in the past and have seen first-hand the impact that the orphanages have in the country, where the rate of HIV is one of the highest in the world.
According to Stephen, it’s not uncommon for children between the ages of nine and 12 to care for their ill parents, and the country is still affected by issues with poverty and child labour.
Stephen, who is a youth worker and boxing promoter who lives in the Springfield area of Tallaght with Caroline and their three children, first visited Lesotho in 2013 as part of a group who were visiting in memory of a family friend who died tragically.
Stephen told The Echo: “Initially I went over because the son of a friend of ours went over, and a couple of years later he sadly died by suicide.
“His mother said that she always felt he was at his happiest when he was in Lesotho, so a group of us got together and went over in 2013.”
This initial visit was the starting point for the Sharpes’ involvement in helping orphaned children in Lesotho.
Stephen and Caroline will be returning to Lesotho in October, having already been to the country six times between them, with plans for the construction of a house for orphans.
Stephen, who is also part of the management team of the One Day charity, said: “The kids in orphanages are the lucky ones, a lot of other children are either orphaned completely or nursing a parent who’s dying of AIDS or HIV.
We really feel we can make a difference
“The kids in the orphanages are happy, they have food and clothing, but it’s the kids outside the orphanages where we really feel we can make a difference.
“A group of us set up a charity called One Day and we’re in the process of building a house [for orphaned children] and training and employing locals to work in the house.
“That way, we’re giving a home to six orphans and employment to local people.”
The local government in the area of Lesotho where the house is to be built have given some land to One Day for the house, and it is hoped that the first house for orphaned children will be complete by this December, to be followed by several other houses for orphaned children.
Stephen added: “The name of our charity is One Day, because we hope that one day every child in Lesotho will have a home where they will be kept safe, as orphaned children in Lesotho are vulnerable to poverty, hunger, disease, abuse and the sex trade.”
The Sharpes are hoping to spend more time in Lesotho in the future, and to bring their three children to the country to make them aware of the difference they can make in other people’s lives.
Looking to the future, Stephen said: “Eventually, when the time is right, we would love to spend an extended period of time in Lesotho – a year or more, if possible.
“We have also committed to bringing our children to Lesotho, it’s something that they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.
“So far, we have managed to bring our eldest son Ben, who accompanied me there last year, and hopefully we will get our 13-year-old Adam out next year – our youngest will have to wait a while as he is only 18 months!”
To donate to Stephen and Caroline’s Go Fund Me page, where the funds will go directly towards the construction of the house for orphaned children, visit https://www.gofundme.com/mission-trip-to-lesotho.
