The United States of America (USA) Embassy held a one-day public session with the graduates to deliberate on the sponsorship and fellowship opportunities offered by the Embassy for Basotho to study abroad

This, the US Embassy Public Engagement Specialist, Ms. Madingane Mapetla said in an interview with the Agency on Tuesday. She said the purpose is to ensure that all know about these opportunities and no one is left behind.

According to Ms. Mapetla, the number of applications from the districts concerning opportunities offered by the Embassy is not satisfying hence the effort to reach out to them to ensure that they have information on what is required to apply for the fellowships and sponsorships.

She added that to date, they have two graduates who have been sponsored, one has completed and another still pursuing her studies.

Ms. Mapetla said the Embassy offers opportunities like the Fulbright Scholarship Program which she noted takes two years for a Masters degree in the US, saying applicants should be below 42 years old. She added that the Humphrey Fellowship is another opportunity targeted for graduates below 45 years who aim to upgrade to managerial positions by enhancing their expertise.

She further mentioned that the Embassy offers Community-Based Organisations grant which is the Ambassadors Self Help Fund that assists organisations engaged in various forms of agriculture, saying the Public Diplomacy grants are offered to people who like to sharpen their expertise in various fields.

Meanwhile, the American Corner Hub Manager and Educational USA Advisor, Ms. Keneuoe Mphutlane said they provide youth with information about quarterly courses of undergraduate or postgraduate degrees.

She noted that they advise young people to engage in online courses to have additional skills that will serve as an added advantage when they apply to pursue their studies, saying they also provide online courses on Youth Entrepreneurship, STEM Programs, Project Management, and Media Literacy.

She added that all programmes are for free, adding that Media Literacy Programs run for a year while the STEM program runs for  three months.

Ms. Mphutlane noted that in 2024, they have designed a new program on Entrepreneurship and will begin with Masaleng Primary School and the other three will follow.

She said they will provide them with 10 tablets, 10 laptops and free data to make it easier to study during that two-day training.

Applications for all the sponsorships, grants, and fellowships are open from January to March every year.

A similar session will be held in Qacha’s Nek on Wednesday.

Source: LENA 05/12/2023