The project is helping these orphans

The small mountain kingdom of Lesotho lies high in the Drakensberg/Maluti mountain range in Southern Africa. Despite its size, Lesotho has a proud history having fought off invasion from the Zulus, the English and the Boers

But despite it's idyllic setting, Lesotho is a country in trouble.

HIV/AIDS is rife and one in three children are infected with the virus. Worse still, many children have lost their parents to the virus and are either cared for by relatives or their communities or simply take to the streets for want of a better place to go.

Now, Sentebale, the charity founded by our Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, has teamed up with Habitat for Humanity and a group of Dutch volunteers to make a dramatic difference to the lives of a group of orphans and vulnerable children.

Mr Vincent outside his home

In this exciting new project, Habitat for Humanity has built four homes on land just outside the capital city, Maseru. The houses were completed just before Christmas 2007 at which point Sentebale took over to help the children to move in and take on the running costs of the homes.

The children moving into these new homes could not have been in more need of somewhere new to live.

All 34 children benefiting from the partnership were, until December 2007, cared for by retired policeman, Ntate Vincent. Ntate is 65 years old and looked after the children on his meagre pension of 1000 Maluti (about £75) a month and some handouts.

Ntate's wife started taking in orphaned children in 1994. When she died in 2002 her daughter took over the care but tragically she died a year later and Ntate continued to looks after the children on his own.

Building starts on the houses

The children shared eight dilapidated beds with only worn out blankets for warmth, and many of them slept on the floor and in the kitchen. With leaking roof and no running water or electricity, Ntate despaired at what he had to offer the orphans.

In the new homes, six to eight children will live in each house, run by a 'house mother'. Each house will have three bedrooms, a living room and kitchen and two pit latrines.

With running water and electricity and beds to sleep in, the children have finally escaped their current appalling living conditions and they, and Ntate, can look forward to better lives.

Ntate's care of the children is far from an isolated case in sub-Saharan Africa. Thousands of children, having lost parents to HIV/AIDS, are cared for by older relatives or members of their community.

Habitat for Humanity's Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project is currently active in Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. By forming partnerships with other charities like Sentebale we are able to make a huge impact on young people like those in Lesotho whilst improving the lives of their older carers.

More about Lesotho.