Motlomelo Thakali lives with his family of five in Motloang, a village 70km east of Maseru, capital of Lesotho. He is HIV positive and unemployed, and depends on casual work to help feed his family, comprising his daughter, daughter-in-law and three grandchildren. Lesotho's HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 23.2 percent is one of the world's highest.
The country is still recovering from the impact of the 2006/07 drought, the worst in 30 years. "There was no work - there is still no work," said Thakali. According to some estimates, unemployment is as high as 45 percent.
In the 2007/08 season the rains were better, but there was still not enough and production of maize, the staple fell. The global food crisis has had a severe impact on the Basotho, as the country depends largely on food imports.
"I have been struggling, as I have not been able to earn any money and food prices have been bad," said Thakali.
In May 2008 he and his family began receiving food rations from the World Food Programme through their targeted food assistance programme for those needing prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT), antiretroviral therapy (ART) and tuberculosis (TB) treatment in remote, mountainous and inaccessible areas.
"But there were days [earlier in the year] when we lived only on water and slept, but I still took my [antiretroviral] medicine," said Thakali. "I know I cannot stop if I have to get better."
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This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
