AVANI Hotels in Lesotho Human Resource Manager Lesekelo Makara,left, Amalgamated Engineering founding director, Moremi Sojane,right, cut the ribbon
Mohalenyane Phakela
ORPHANED and vulnerable young ones housed at Beautiful Gate Children’s Home will not have to worry about being exposed to the bitter cold of the winter season in the event of load shedding.
Yesterday, the AVANI Hotels in Lesotho group donated a 200 kilowatts generator to the Thetsane-based children’s sanctuary in conjunction with local firm, Amalgamated Engineering, Director Moremi Sojane.
Beautiful Gate Children’s Home is a sanctuary to orphaned, abandoned and neglected children whose ages range from the newly-born to five years. Seventy-two children are currently being cared for at the centre which has looked after more than 400 children over the course of the past 16 years.
In his remarks during the handover ceremony, Mr Sojane said he had learnt that the orphanage needed a bigger generator after coming to service the one they used before.
The bigger generator was needed as an alternative source of electricity for the facility in the event of load shedding.
“I then asked the management of the children’s home when they would buy a bigger generator and told that they were not sure since they were waiting for donations from well-wishers which were erratic,” said Mr Sojane.
“Luckily, I was in the process of supplying AVANI with a brand new generator to replace the one that is being donated today. As a person who loves children dearly, I requested the AVANI engineer whom I was working with to ask the hotel group’s management to sell me the old generator.
He added: “I had not told them the reason I needed the generator. So they did not respond until after three months when I told them I wanted to donate it to Beautiful Gate Children’s Home and explained the challenge they were facing.
“They refused to sell me the generator but asked me to service it so we can donate it together. I am proud to say that the generator is now as good as new and can work for the next 10 years without any problem.”
Mr Sojane also explained that the generator needed 500 litres of diesel to operate for 24 hours, adding that his company would donate 1 000 litres. Since the device required service after every 250 hours, he also pledged to freely service it for its next 1 000 hours.
AVANI Hotels in Lesotho Human Resource Manager Lesekelo Makara said that the hotel group did not hesitate to lend a helping hand once they had established that the generator was earmarked for a worthy cause.
“We are pleased to have been able to answer the call of the vulnerable, especially during this season when they were in dire need of a generator,” he said.
“Amalgamated Engineering assured us that the generator was in perfect condition and able to supply electricity to the whole facility.
“I hope this will be a wakeup call to the government and other stakeholders such as the corporate sector so that they know that a lot more still needs to be done to help the less fortunate.”
For her part, Beautiful Gate Children’s Home operations manager Anita Garrick, expressed gratitude for the gesture, saying the children would not have to endure a harsh winter season like they did last year.
“Last year, especially in the month of July, we experienced very harsh weather conditions since Thetsane was affected by electricity load shedding,” she said.
“The generator we had did not have the capacity to supply enough electricity for us to use geysers or to switch on electric heaters.
“We were left with no option but to wrap the kids with many blankets because their rooms were very cold and we also had to do their laundry using cold water.”
Ms Garrick said when they solicited for quotations to buy a bigger generator, they discovered that they could not afford them.
“We were then delighted when we learnt that AVANI had an old generator for which Ntate Sojane was negotiating to buy at a discount on our behalf. We never expected to get it as a gift, but then God works in mysterious ways and now our winter is going to feel like summer.
“We do not have the proper words to express the joy and gratitude we feel towards AVANI and Amalgamated Engineering. May the Almighty continue to bless them,” she added.
