Sarah in Lesotho

In the cold of the UK it is hard to believe that just a few days ago I visited the Ha Ratau group in Lesotho (in southern Africa), in glorious sunshine. Some of the 58 strong group were able to come and meet me and the full Send a Cow Lesotho team to talk to us about how far they have come in the last year since they started receiving assistance.

The smiles on the faces, the willingness to share and desire to take us to see individual farms made very clear how proud the group were of what they had achieved together. As I looked around the village I could see lots of enclosed gardens covered by hail nets to protect the vegetables growing underneath them! The hail nets are essential in Lesotho, because of the extreme weather that this mountainous country experiences - every year crops are lost due to damage during violent hail storms. But with the use of nets, keyhole gardens, double-dug beds and better seeds, these families can now eat three times a day.

Mampho Mahlomola told me that before having such wonderful vegetables in her garden she was often sick and was being treated for TB, but since her diet really improved she has good health. Her group are now looking forward to more training and the prospect of receiving livestock in the coming year. Shortly after taking this photograph the Ha Ratau women burst into song and dance to send us off. It really was a joy to be there!