AIDS Awareness-Raising Tractor Arrives in Lesotho

A tractor that had trekked 15,000 miles across 17 countries to raise awareness and funds for Lesotho's AIDS orphans arrived Wednesday in Maseru, the nation's capital. "My goal was to tour the world in a farm tractor and help improve the education and living situation for children in Lesotho," said German citizen Matthias Lausen, the tractor's driver. The tour has 51 sponsors, including the tractor's manufacturer, CLAAS of Germany. At its next Lesotho stop, Mokhotlong, the tractor will visit Motsitseng Primary School; that institution works with CARE Lesotho's "Secure the Child" project, which provides vegetables for school lunches and teaches home gardening skills in collaboration with 53 primary schools. More than 100,000 of Lesotho's children are orphans, primarily due to AIDS. Lausen hopes to return to Germany next month.

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