Link History

A Background

Dolen Cymru – the Wales-Lesotho Link – was launched at a ceremony at the Welsh Office in Cardiff in March 1985. The idea of Wales developing its own special link with a country in the Third World grew out of the desire to see if our small nation could make a direct contribution to one of the greatest challenges facing us today – the ever growing economic divide between the countries of the "north" and the developing countries of the "south".

Lesotho, a small independent kingdom in southern Africa, was approached and, after a meeting of NGOs in its capital city Maseru, whole heartedly accepted the "twinning". In a message to mark its tenth anniversary in 1995, the then Lesotho High Commissioner in London, His Excellency Kenneth Tsekoa, thanked the Welsh people for "the caring partnership demonstrated over the years". "In health, youth affairs, environment and religion the partnership with Wales has been a real source of inspiration and hope to our people." he said.

The link stands unique in involving two nations – as opposed to the twinning of towns or Local Authorities. Its basis is mutual friendship and understanding and it includes a strong educational element. Lesotho is roughly the same size as Wales. With its mountains, its bi-lingualism (English and Sesotho), its dependence on water resources and tourism, and with its mining and choral traditions, it has turned out to be a happy choice as a Third World twin.

What has been slowly but steadily growing in the last twenty-one years is a multi-faceted grass-roots web of relationships. Several Welsh organisations – like Merched y Wawr and the NUT – have found sister organisations in Lesotho. Through a series of two-way visits – by teachers, doctors, young people, journalists, church and civic leaders, women’s representatives, college lectures and choirs – mutual knowledge has grown and friendships blossomed. Another former Lesotho High Commissioner said it represented "a new  dimension in international relations."

In 1997 Dolen Cymru received a major grant from the International Round of the National Lottery. It was used to improve the quality of primary education in Lesotho and also health education in the villages. Dolen Cymru also collected English reading books from primary schools throughout Wales to send much-needed reading material to Lesotho. Over three years 1,418 boxes of books were sent in seven shipments to the 1,300 primary schools. Books were donated by 300 primary schools from 16 Local Education Authorities throughout Wales. Reference books worth £23,000 were also distributed to the Lesotho Teaching Resource Centres. 

In 1997 Dolen Cymru received a major grant from the International Round of the National Lottery. It was used to improve the quality of primary education in Lesotho and also health education in the villages. Dolen Cymru also collected English reading books from primary schools throughout Wales to send much-needed reading material to Lesotho. Over three years 1,418 boxes of books were sent in seven shipments to the 1,300 primary schools. Books were donated by 300 primary schools from 16 Local Education Authorities throughout Wales. Reference books worth £23,000 were also distributed to the Lesotho Teaching Resource Centres. 

Since 2002 Dolen Cymru has received substantial funding from the Welsh Assembly Government to further our work in the field of education for global citizenship and in furthering the professional development of Welsh teachers. In 2005 Dolen Cymru launched its Lesotho Teacher Placement Programme that offered teachers from Wales the opportunity to work in Lesotho for 6-12 months. With the launch of the Welsh Assembly Government’s ‘Wales for Africa’ Framework in 2006, it is hoped that Dolen Cymru will be able to offer further opportunities to Welsh professionals in future to contribute to Lesotho’s sustainable international development in future.

Dolen Cymru is a registered charity run by a National Committee of Trustees drawn from different parts of Wales and different areas of Welsh life. It has a Churches advisory sub-committee, chaired by the Bishop of Wrexham, a Medical committee chaired by Dolen Cymru’s President Dr Carl Clowes and three Education advisory committees, in north Wales, the south-west and the south-east. Dolen Cymru is a membership organization. Members pay an annual subscription of £10 (£20 for schools and institutions). Benefits include voting rights at the AGM and two Newsletters each year. For full details of how to join Dolen Cymru, please see the Membership page.

Those of us involved in the link on both sides believe that, although our two countries are small, in this first ever nation to nation twinning we have been pioneering something of significance for the whole "global village".