St Paul’s School was established in 1981 in Leribe, a small town located in the northern part of Lesotho, about 92 km from the capital Maseru. It was the first school for children and young people with hearing loss in the country.
St Paul works as a boarding school and is currently in charge of 200 children, to whom is offers the chance to come out of their isolation by learning sign language and receiving quality education and living environment. At the end of their schooling, the children return to their village of origin and continue to be followed by the school for a professional insertion.

St Paul, Leribe – Lesotho


Since 2015, The Ivory Foundation has supported St Paul by setting up a pilot farm on the school grounds. The goal is twofold:

-To meet the needs of the school canteen thanks to the self-production of vegetables, eggs, milk, and pork.

-By training the children of the school, and especially the older ones, to a know-how that will be useful when they return to their respective villages. The farm may be duplicated and young people who wish to do so can get help to settle back in their villages.

In 2018, the principle of a micro farm has been developed to offer older children the opportunity to settle with a self-made building, a herd, and tools and seeds to start their business in their village of origin.

Un projet financé par The Ivory Foundation

  • Discover below the last posts from St Paul !

Birth of a calf at Saint-Paul

One of the cows at the St Paul educational farm for the deaf and hard of hearing has given birth to a calf. The farm now has six cows.

Harvesting in the Palesa garden of St Paul’s School, Leribe, Lesotho

Set up in 2021 with the children and young people of the St Paul’s School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Leribe, Lesotho, the Palesa garden (Palesa means flower in Sotho, the language of Lesotho) is providing a … Read More

Garden plots at St Paul’s School in Lesotho

At St Paul’s School in Leribe, Lesotho, the 6 deaf and hard of hearing young people trained at the educational farm maintain the plots to produce the vegetables cooked at the boarding school canteen. Some of the crops are grown … Read More

The greenhouse of the St Paul’s school farm, Leribe – Lesotho

The youths in charge of the St Paul’s educational farm cultivate large plots of land dedicated to market gardening to supply the school canteen with fresh vegetables.Spinach, finely chopped and fried with onions, is a very popular sauce in Lesotho … Read More

The animals of the St Paul’s school pedagogical farm, Leribe – Lesotho

The Ivory Foundation has been supporting the St Paul’s School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in Lesotho since 2015.An educational farm has been set up within the school, combining animal husbandry and market gardening to provide the school … Read More

Extension of the greenhouse with the young people of Lesotho

In Southern Africa, Designing Hope and The Ivory Foundation strive to forge human links between the actors of the different projects they develop and support.  In 2017, the women of Eswatini and Roosboom came to train in permaculture the students … Read More

Sign memory for the school for the deaf and hard of hearing in St Paul, Lesotho

Transjardins has developed a memory game associating a card of an element (vegetables, fruits or garden tools) with a card representing its gesture in sign language. Other cards combine the two (elements and signs) in order to facilitate learning for … Read More

Maintaining the Palesa Garden in St Paul, Lesotho

Six young people maintain the Palesa Garden, the circular vegetable garden created for the children of the St Paul’s School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The garden is divided into four sections, each of which is available to … Read More

Face memory for St Paul’s School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Lesotho

The photographs of the St Paul’s school for the deaf and hard of hearing children carried out last year in the middle of the Leribe vegetation within the framework of the project “Nature en Ville”, were reproduced in a memory … Read More

Conception of a gel dispenser in St Pau

Among the 13 sheets elaborated by The Ivory Foundation on hygiene and nutrition, one of them concerns hand washing and presents the design of an artisanal gel dispenser, guaranteeing a non-contact use, with a foot-activation. Put into practice at St … Read More

The St Paul’s greenhouse

St Paul’s greenhouse was built in early 2021 with financial support from @the-ivory-foundation. It is covered with a semi-blackout veil allowing 60% of the sun’s rays to pass through, which limits both the evaporation of water during hot weather, and … Read More

Sowing in pots in the Palesa garden

 In order to fill the beds of cultures of the St Paul’s Palesa garden, the children with the assistance of the gardeners carried out sowings in cup for the species which does not require sowing in direct (squash, melons, tomatoes, … Read More

Water tower and well in St Paul

Early 2021 thanks to the support of @the-ivory-foundation, a well was dug and a water tower composed of two reservoirs was installed at the farm of St Paul (Leribe, Lesotho). These installations secure the water supply in school and compensate … Read More

Painting workshop of Thebe Magugu flowers in St Paul

As at Bercy school in Paris, we involved the children of St Paul’s school in Hlotse (Lesotho) in the decoration of wooden flowers which take the silhouette of Thebe Magugu’s flowers. Once decorated, these flowers will be varnished and fixed … Read More

Installation of a circular fence in the Palesa garden.

In order to protect this new garden from damage that could be caused by farm animals, 60 meters of wire mesh and 30 poles were purchased to construct a circular fence. This fence was installed 3 meters from the trapezoidal … Read More

Filling the plots in the Palesa garden.

Palesa Garden’s plots are filled with a mixture of soil, compost and biochar. Biochar allows better retention of water and nutrients in the soil. A circular fence, which will be planted with fertilizer trees, will protect this garden from damage … Read More

Creation of plots for the Palesa garden.

  In order to allow the children to cultivate a larger area, we decided to create 8 extra wooden plots at the end of each petal of the mandala. As St Paul’s school has 4 classes, each class will be … Read More

Creation of a mandala garden at St Paul’s school: the Palesa garden.

In order to educate deaf and hard of hearing children at St Paul’s school about gardening, we asked the five gardeners in training to make a flower-shaped mandala garden and involve children in its maintenance. The mandala is composed of … Read More

Drilling at St Paul’s school, Lesotho

With the support of The Ivory Foundation, drilling was organised last February 2021 at St Paul’s school. A relief for the St Paul’s farm and school, which faces water shortages every year. Water network cuts are regular during the dry … Read More

Development of the covered area in St Paul

At St Paul’s School in Lesotho, deaf and hard of hearing young people have started to lay out the crop boards for the covered area, which they have even built. As a reminder, the purpose of this covered area is … Read More

School of St Paul for the Deaf, Lesotho

The aim of this film is to present the pedagogical garden of St Paul’s School in Lesotho and how it helps to improve the living environment of children. Supported by The Ivory Foundation, this micro-farm enables the school canteen to … Read More

Milpa’s plot in Saint-Paul, Lesotho

Since 2017, The Ivory Foundation has been supporting deaf and hard of hearing youth in Lesotho. 5 students trained in agriculture have been placed on a new semi autonomous farm. Young people put their knowledge of agroecology into practice. This … Read More

New cultivation area covered

At St. Paul’s School in Leribe, Lesotho, deaf and hard of hearing youth have begun building a covered area to protect crops from the scorching summer sun. A net with reduced opacity (40%) reduces evaporation and protects the crops. A … Read More

Preparation of the crop boards

Young people at the Leribe farm in Lesotho have done a lot of work preparing the soil for new spring crops. In addition to the rounded Mandala, the mounds grid the land in several rectangles to ensure easier circulation in … Read More

New Students at St Paul School for the Deaf

New students took over the former 5 young people, who at the end of their training, settled on Saint Monica’s farm with the support of The Ivory Foundation. The new St Paul’s team will learn all the steps of running a … Read More

Rabbits have arrived

The rabbits arrived at St Paul’s school. The goal of these little furballs is to provide a dietary supplement for young people, the rapid multiplication to ensure a food resource over time, especially for the future autonomous farm of St … Read More

The ewes arrived

The ewes arrived in Leribe, Lesotho. They are part of the micro-farm project imagined by The Ivory Foundation to help the deaf children of St Paul’s School, trained for two years in agriculture and livestock farming, to settle their own … Read More

Development of a cheese activity at St Paul’s school

A student from Agrosup Dijon completed a 5-month internship in Lesotho. Among other things, he organized training for making cheese, to use the milk produced by cows and sheep from the school’s educational farm.He tested both ripened cheeses and feta-type … Read More

The cantine of Leribe

The garden of the school for deaf and hard of hearing children from St Paul to Leribe provides the canteen with fresh vegetables, which serve as an essential complement to the preparation of meals.  

Pedagogical dominoes in Lesotho

An educational domino game was designed by Designing Hope in order to introduce the diversity of vegetables to children from an early age. Designed by an artist from Koudougou in Burkina Faso, this game, painted on metal, conquered the deaf … Read More

Saint Paul’s garden

The henhouse of free range native hens is booming! The laying hens have been isolated and there have been several births. Therefore the number of hens is about 80 hens. The vegetable garden is covered with cabbage and spinach, adapted … Read More

Alternating plots for animals and crops

A sas was built, with 2 doors, to control the exit of animals and direct them to one or the other 2 plots being intended alternately. This will make it possible to cultivate on a parcel benefiting from the manure … Read More

Construction of a mobile henhouse in Lesotho

Imagined for the Grand Potager de Fontenille in the South of France, here is a second application of this mobile hen house concept, in Lesotho this time, in St Paul school for the deaf in Leribe. The realization of this … Read More

Water recovery from the micro-farm of Leribe

Gutters and a water tank were installed to collect the rainwater from the roof of the micro-farm. the tank was placed on the side of the greenhouse, and next to the future market gardening space, to recover water for watering.

micro-farm partitions

The micro-farm of Leribe is divided into 3 spaces: the vertical greenhouse, a shelter for chickens and rabbits, and a shelter for goats. The interior partitions, sheltered from the rain, were made of hardboard (masonite), a very common material in … Read More

The vertical greenhouse of Leribe micro-farm

On the most sun-exposed facade of the Leribe micro-farm, a vertical greenhouse has been set up. In a space of 50cm deep, a plastic covered space has been set up, with two large doors allowing easy access to the full … Read More

Installation of rabit shelters

The Leribe micro-farm will accommodate in the same shelter rabbits, hens, and goats. The rabbits will be placed  in height, in the same space as the hens that will be on the ground. Five rabbits will be set up and … Read More

Teamwork with the students of St Paul school

The micro-farm of Leribe was built with the oldest studentstaht are  already involved in the agricultural project of the St Paul School. The goal is to build with them a model that can be easily duplicated by them, teaching them … Read More

The micro farm of Leribe – Creation of the building

The Leribe micro farm is a construction set up by The Ivory Foundation at St Paul School for the Deaf in Leribe, Lesotho. The concept consist in designing on a small land, a small farm that students at the end … Read More

Keyhole from Lesotho

An example of a family Keyhole in Lesotho. In this mountainous country, stones are the basic material for all buildings. The keyhole, this small elevated vegetable garden, with central composter, does not escape the rule.

The response of Saint Paul School to Bercy

La Traversine and St Paul School, two educational gardens, one in France the other in Lesotho. The two educational gardens do not have the same role, the first makes it possible to sensitize the youth to the ecological problems and … Read More

The Lesotho “suitcase”

The children of St Paul’s School for Deaf were gathered for a surprise straight from France: a large envelope containing photos and letters from the children of Bercy school (Paris). Thanks to the sign language translation made by their teacher, … Read More

The suitcase for Saint Paul School

La Traversine and St Paul School, two educational gardens, one in France the other in Lesotho. The two educational gardens do not have the same role, the first makes it possible to sensitize the youth to the ecological problems and … Read More