ACT

It is a collaboration between Sandvika High School in Bærum, Norway and Mamoeketsi Primary School in Maseru, Lesotho. It is a collaboration between Sandvika High School in Norway and Mamoeketsi Primary School in Lesotho. The board of ACT! is run by two teachers and four students from Sandvika High School. ACT is short for Achieving Communication Together. Our goal is to give financial and technological support to Mamoeketsi Primary School. Through fundraisers in Norway we are able to give high school scholarships to students of Mamoeketsi, as well as computers, exchange visits and hopefully a new school building. Our most important fundraiser is Dagsverk Lesotho in October every year, where every student at Sandvika has to work and earn money for Mamoeketsi Primary School. As other Norwegian high schools are collecting money for Operasjons Dagsverk, we have chosen to collect money for Mamoeketsi instead. With our slogan "Connecting Future Leaders" we see this project as a WIN-WIN situation for both schools involved. Mamoeketsi
Primary School is being supported so that the kids can get the best possible education. Some students are also fortunate enough to come to Norway to experience our school, meet people and make international contacts. Students from Sandvika High School have the possibility of helping other students less fortunate than themselves. is also lucky enough to go to Lesotho and meet the school. HISTORY:
It started as an unofficial organization in 2011 after Ann Michaelsen, a teacher from Sandvika High School, and Moliehi Sekese, a teacher from Mamoeketsi Primary School, met at Microsoft’s Worldwide Innovative Education Forum in Brazil in 2009. Ann and Moliehi kept in contact after the event and they managed to make a great friendship. In 2011 Ann made a Lesotho group at Sandvika High School with four other students, Martine Tonnem Knudsen, Sara Ismar, Ingerid Løyning Dale and Johannes Terjeson Bangum. In March 2012 they went to Lesotho to visit Mamoeketsi Primary School. It was an amazing trip where they made great connections with the students. Video from the trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsVRKRNEMTo

In October the same year we arranged the first Dagsverk Lesotho. Every student at Sandvika High School worked for one day instead of attending class to earn 400 Norwgian Kroners, which they gave to Mamoeketsi Primary School. The result was over 230 000 kroners! It was a very successful day! We also arranged a football tournament and had days at school where we sold cakes and hotdogs to raise money. In the spring of 2013 the Lesotho group was founded as an official organization with the name Norway Lesotho Connecting Future Leaders. As the students in the board where all graduating the same semester, four new students were welcomed into the organization. Leah Khan Barstad and Peter Solnør as board members and Kasper Lie Tønnersen and Ulrik Randsborg Lie as deputy members. Two new teachers were also included in the board, Silje Opstad and Liv Kristin Høgvold. The new board is also lucky enough to visit Mamoeketsi Primary School. The trip will be from September 21st until September 28th 2013. The two teachers, Ann and Silje, will go, as well as the four students, Leah, Casper, Ulrik and Peter. The purpose of the trip is to see what specifically the school is in need of and to strengthen the connection between the two schools. We will also make an awareness campaign while in Lesotho which we will publish at Sandvika High School to encourage our students to help even more with the project. In preparation of the trip we have sold cakes and hotdogs to raise money, as well as collecting old cellphones we will pawn for a small amount of money per phone. We have also collected laptops we will bring with us and give to the school. As the official name of the organization is Norway Lesotho Connecting Future Leaders, we have chosen to use the name ACT! for the time being as it is an easier name to remember! We hope ACT! can help the students of Mamoeketsi Primary School with their education and their future. We are also confident that we can bring the students of Sandvika High School and Mamoeketsi Primary School closer together, so that they one day can work side by side as future leaders!

@actlesothonorway - instagram