Lesotho Future Stars & Teboho's Bike Shop

Ben Keller is organizing this fundraiser.

Donation protected

Overview

In the capital of Lesotho, the beautiful mountain kingdom in Southern Africa, on any day of the week you will find dozens of joyful young Basotho kids together at a bike track outside of Maseru mall - racing each other around the course, reading under the eaves of Teboho’s Bike Shop, and working together in the learning garden. Welcome, to Future Stars!

Future Stars originated as a humble initiative supporting Teboho’s Bike Shop to entertain kids while their parent’s bikes were being fixed. Today, thanks to the incredible support from the community and passion among the youth of Maseru, Future Stars has evolved into a multifaceted program, fostering skills in reading, gardening, and health education, all while continuing to expand the community of youth built around cycling. As we look forward to 2024, the dreams of Future Stars are bigger than ever. We're planning extensive expansions to our programs and facilities, aiming to reach more kids and make an even greater impact. To turn this vision into reality, we need your help!

Activities and Programs

The mission of Future Stars is to create a welcoming haven for children—a home away from home—where they can nurture life skills, form lasting friendships, and complete their schoolwork. As our program expands and evolves with the community need, we recognize the necessity for a space that can seamlessly adapt to these changes. Our mission goes beyond meeting immediate demands; it is about creating an environment that fosters holistic growth and development for the children we serve. Our project aims to enhance the reading club/study area, upgrade onsite sanitation facilities, and expand bike access to ensure the program remains cost-free for children. We seek an appropriate space with structures and tools that enable kids to enjoy learning and bike riding. To achieve this, fundraising is essential for the following initiatives:

Community Shelter: While instrumental in our journey, the current bike shop building has become limiting. Improving the overall condition of our facilities is paramount. The new proposed shelter will provide shade and create an activity space for reading clubs, classes, and health programs including HIV/AIDS testing. Beyond an activity space, this shelter will continue to build our facilities into a space to foster community.
Dedicated Library Space: Establishing a dedicated library to expand access to learning materials and nurturing the kids’ curiosity. Partnerships have already been established for book donations, but a better place is needed to shelve the books to protect them and make sure they are available for kids to take into the reading space with tables and chairs under the shelter.
Improved Water and Sanitation Facilities: Improving water infrastructure by increasing storage tanks and installing additional pipes to supply a network of taps. Increasing access to hydration sources and streamlining sanitation stations will keep kids safe and hydrated, and help enable more girls to participate. New toilet and sanitation facilities will include two toilets and basins on our premises. This improvement is particularly crucial for the well-being and participation of girls.
Enhancing Girls' Participation: We will develop programs to attract and engage more girls in cycling and the community, fostering inclusivity and equal opportunities. We aim to break down barriers to girls’ participation and empower them to become active and empowered members of our community. The new bicycles and helmets will be chosen specifically to enable greater participation among girls.

Budget and Timeline

The Future Stars team plans to execute these activities over the course of 2024. This will begin with a focus on the infrastructural improvements including the development of the shelter and sanitation facilities. Over the course of 2024 and into 2025, we will prioritize expanding our programs as well as sourcing new bicycles, books, and health supplies.

The budget will be reached partially through other grant sources.

History and Mission

Teboho’s Bike Shop was started out of a love and passion for bicycles and cycling by the founder Teboho Lenyora in 2016. While working with kids at the bike shop, Teboho saw a need that Basotho children should have a safe place to ride bikes, build friendships, do schoolwork, and to protect them from the streets of Maseru which can often lead kids to violence, drugs, and crime. We support boys and girls at the primary and secondary level in Maseru, and on any given day there can be 60 or more kids on the bike track and reading club. Currently about 80% of the kids are boys, but we aim to increase the participation of girls to be closer to 50%. Above 20% are orphaned children, and about 20% are estimated to have HIV. We believe there is significant potential to expand these initiatives and take the opportunity to support this community of kids, united by their love of biking.

We are deeply grateful for your belief in our mission, and thank you for your support in helping these kids to become Future Stars!