Four pillars, built with the community.
Every programme below is run alongside local partners and funded, in part, by Lalibela's guests. Here's where that support goes.
Every programme below is run alongside local partners and funded, in part, by Lalibela's guests. Here's where that support goes.
From stationery and shoes to scholarships and seven sport codes, LCO backs the everyday and the exceptional in equal measure.
Two initiatives woven into one: guests purchase a pair of school shoes or a packed, branded LCO stationery case for R300 and donate it directly to a child in the community. At the start of every year, LCO undertakes to supply every learner at Masekane School with stationery, and the shoe donations are building a shoe-exchange library at the recreation centre, where children trade in a cleaned pair for another when they've outgrown theirs.
Four young women (18–25) from the community are completing an NQF4 Hospitality & Tourism Skills programme in Port Elizabeth, supported by a monthly scholarship for the duration of their training.
Eight community members (an EDC principal, five sport coaches and two healthcare workers) completed First Aid Level 1, alongside two teachers from Masekane Primary School.
LCO supports transport, apparel and coaching for soccer, netball, cricket, chess, karate, traditional dance and gumboot dancing.
Phase 1 taught community members how to harness individual gifts, talents and skills toward building their community together.
In partnership with the 2025 SA Youth Ambassador of Mantra Trust, children designed outfits from waste materials around an ocean theme, turning recycling into a runway.
For the second year running, Grade 9 students traversed the land from Grahamstown through local farmland over four days, incorporating community outreach along the way.
Free eye testing, first aid training and wellness days with Rhodes University sit alongside pet health days that protect households and livestock.
Launched in May 2025, Project K9 raises awareness of pet care in rural communities and the link between animal health, human wellbeing and the environment. LCO hosted iKhala Vet for a community outreach day, sterilising four animals and vaccinating and deworming many more, with growing support hoped for as Lalibela moves into high season.
LCO continues to take children to Grahamstown for eye testing. Eye tests and spectacles, where required, are free for children under the age of 13.
In partnership with Rhodes University and the Department of Health, LCO hosted three health and wellness awareness days in March: free testing for HIV, TB, pap smears, insulin, cholesterol, blood pressure, weight and nutrition.
Launched in May 2025, Project ONE raises awareness of human health and wellbeing through education, and generates guest donations toward specialist healthcare needs.
Supporting new and expecting mothers through Best Start Baby's pre-natal, parenting, breastfeeding and wellness programme, active in the community and private sector across the Eastern Cape.
Daily breakfast at Masekane Primary, soup kitchens across two communities, and a teaching garden growing the next generation of farmers.
Pumba Private Game Reserve donated a fully equipped community kitchen structure, from which all local soup kitchens have operated since August 2024. Pumba and Lalibela each supply ingredients and gas for two days a week, with LCO providing further support to Topsy, who runs her own soup kitchen from home every Monday.
Mother Garden 1 & 2, worm farms and a growing tree nursery, teaching small-scale farming while feeding soup kitchens and the recreation centre.
LCO ensures every child receives breakfast daily by supplying the school with porridge ingredients, continuing through the recreation centre over school holidays.
LCO supports the EDC with a monthly food donation to keep its youngest learners nourished.
LCO funds and supplies food parcels every month to elders across the Seven Fountains and Salem communities.
Anti-poaching training, invasive species eradication, and hands-on conservation careers give the next generation a stake in the reserve's future.
Our conservation team recently responded to reports of a cheetah limping on its hind leg. A carefully planned darting operation determined the injury was a pulled ligament, not life-threatening, and expected to heal naturally with supportive medication. The cheetah was safely released back onto the reserve to continue its recovery in the wild.
"Interventions like these play a vital role in responsible wildlife management, protecting and conserving this iconic species for future generations."
Two individuals from the community are earmarked to take part in the upcoming anti-poaching training intake, working alongside the reserve's K9 unit.
Following severe rains that caused major damage to local infrastructure, community teams have supported road rehabilitation efforts across the reserve and surrounds.
Ongoing removal of invasive Blue Wattle protects indigenous vegetation and the water sources the community depends on.
A new conservation-education initiative for the community, currently in development ahead of launch.
After heavy flooding damaged the access roads linking Seven Fountains to the reserve, LCO partnered with Gift of the Givers and local contractors to rehabilitate the route, keeping residents connected to schools, clinics and work.
Support Recovery EffortsWhether it's a donation, a skill, or a corporate partnership, there's a way to help that fits.