Prince Seesio Bereng Seesio of Lesotho (second right), chats with some of the students of Providence Elementary School soon after his arrival at the institution for his scheduled visit to talk to the students about his country, while (at right) principal of Providence, Tom Sheedy looks on. In the background is Seesio’s bodyguard.
Prince Seesio of Lesotho visits Providence
1/31/2010
By Erica Lazare
PRINCE Seeiso Bereng Seeiso of Lesotho, on his first visit to the island in a bid to promote his Sentebale Charity, toured the Providence Elementary School in Francia, St George and chatted freely with the young ones about his native country.
Upon his arrival, he was immediately given a tour of the previous Francia plantation house – now home to the assembly hall and computer room of the school – by several students and principal of Providence, Tom Sheedy. He seemed quite interested in the many pictures that adorned the walls of the building and was
expertly informed by the excited students on their significance.
Afterwards, he walked along the path towards the auditorium and took in the breath-taking and wonderfully groomed grounds of the relatively new institution, chatting with some of the pupils and the principal along the way.
Awaiting him was an organised question and answer session amongst the children and staff in the school’s auditorium. There, several of the students posed intriguing questions to the Prince.
He was asked about life in a palace, experiences on his travels around the world and even if he had any plans to help Haiti even though his country faces extreme problems of its own.
Seesio, who revealed that he studied for a period in Guyana and felt very close to the West Indian culture, spoke highly of the work that his charity co-founder Prince Harry of Great Britain, is doing.
“He came to Lesotho, I showed him around the areas of the disadvantage where there were persons with disabilities, HIV and AIDS and he really got his teeth stuck into Lesotho. He is now an honorary Lesothian and we have given him a local name, ‘Mahali’, which means warrior.”
He also said that the children of Lesotho should not be forgotten and without the international community, he would not be able to do the work he is doing.
The Sentebale charity is aimed at supporting other charities who work with the disadvantaged, orphaned and sick children in Lesotho. He is also patron of Linking Lives, Send-A-Cow and Khokanyana-Phiri charities in England, which also provide funds to help the vulnerable people of Lesotho.
Although only on a three-day visit, he told the Barbados Advocate that he will be enjoying the flora and the fauna and taking some time out to relax.
“My intention is to, along with all the activities scheduled, kick back and sneak into Bridgetown or any other town and do some shopping. I need to buy some local CD’s. I’ll also like to do a bit of work and enjoy as much of Barbados as I can.”
However, we are not likely to see him on any of the beaches as he said that it is not his favourite pastime because the ocean is “very far removed from Lesotho”, being a land-locked country.
