Lesotho’s 'green drought' pushes thousands deeper into hunger | Godfrey Mutizwa
by Godfrey Mutizwa in Mafeteng from on (#14ATA)
Recent downpours have greened Lesotho's valleys, camouflaging a crisis caused by two years of inadequate rain that is spreading malnutrition and disease
For 14-year-old Hopolang Staka, Lesotho's worst drought in more than four decades means fewer meals, a daily two-hour trek for water and an education postponed.
At the family's small holding in Mafeteng, 70km south of the capital Maseru, Hopolang, an Aids orphan, supplements the 350 maloti (15) monthly child support grant from the government with income from herding neighbours' cattle. He dropped out of school last year because his street hawking brothers couldn't afford the fees.
