Bataung Moeketsi
MASERU Toyota this week handed over a brand-new pit latrine to a widowed cancer patient in Ha-Tsolo, Maseru.
The beneficiary, Thakane Ntsoale, is unemployed and takes care of her wheelchair bound 12-year-old son who suffers from cerebral palsy.
Toyota embarked onto the M15 000 project last month after identifying Ms Ntsoale and her son’s need for a toilet.
Ms Ntsoale’s husband was killed in a car accident in 2009 leaving her to fend for herself and their disabled child, Tokiso Sekantsi. However, things took a turn for the worst when Ms Ntosole was diagnosed cancer in 2016 and could no longer work.
Maseru Toyota’s relationship with the two dates back to January 2018 when it started paying for Tokiso’s tuition and providing him with transport to school.
The company’s service manager, Patrick Motlepu, told the Lesotho Times that the donations were part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy.
“We must give back to the community, that is one of Toyota’s values,” Mr Motlepu said.
Toyota’s finance and administrations manager Motšelisi Ntori said she realised the family’s need for a toilet during a conversation that she had with Ms Ntsaole.
“I was sent to check on the child (Tokiso) to see if he had arrived from school and then as I was talking to Ms Ntsoale, I learnt that they did not have a toilet.
“We then alerted our managing director of the family’s need for a toilet,” Ms Ntori said.
Prior to receiving the donation from Maseru Toyota, Ms Ntsoale relied on a neighbour’s toilet. However, problems started when the neighbour started locking the toilet.
“I just found the toilet locked one day when I returned from the hospital. Up to now I do not know the reason for which the neighbour barred us from using the toilet,” Ms Ntsoale said.
She said Maseru Toyota’s intervention brought her relief as she was out of options.
“I feel really blessed because we had been struggling for a long time and did not know what to do because of my health condition that has forced me out of work. I pray that this company grows so that it can continue helping other vulnerable people,” Ms Ntsoale said.
For her part, Maseru Toyota’s marketing officer ‘Matsebo Liphoto said as part of their CSR initiatives, they annually sponsor the best performing graduates in automotive mechanics at Lerotholi Polytechnic, the Technical Institute of Leloaleng and Thaba Tseka Training Institute. She said they would also embark onto a similar arrangement for the Catholic Technical School of Leribe starting next year.
The company also donated groceries to two orphanages namely, ‘Malibuseng Children’s Home in Maseru East and Gods Love Centre in Sekamaneng on 16 November.
“This is all made possible through the unwavering support we have received from Basotho over the years; it is only befitting that we thank and give back to the very same people whose support has always been given so generously to Maseru Toyota,” Ms Liphoto said.
