Prince Harry makes African visit to school for deaf

A Lesotho school catering for deaf children was recently visited by Prince Harry while he was in Africa.

The prince had a sign language lesson when he took a visit to Kananelo Centre for the Deaf, a school where the majority of running costs are funded by Sentebale, a charity the he helped found, reports The Telegraph.

Sentebale was co-founded by Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho in 2006, the latter also being part of the recent school visit.

Some 85 people aged from five to 22 attend the school where several Roman Catholic nuns teach, the news provider reported.

The signs for 'father', 'brother', 'mother' and 'sister' were all shown to Prince Harry in one of the school’s classrooms. The princes also took a trip to Maseru’s St Bernadette’s Centre for the Blind.

Sentebale’s website reports that the prince has expressed delight about the improvements that his charity has been responsible for at both St Bernadette’s and Kananelo Centre for the Deaf in the time since he visited them last, during 2010.

Prince Harry also explains the story behind the charity’s formation on the site, saying that he spent time in Lesotho during a gap year in 2004.

“This charity is a way in which Prince Seeiso and I can remember our mothers, who both worked with vulnerable children and people affected by AIDS,” he writes.

Also as part of his visit to Kananelo Centre for the Deaf, which took place at the end of February, he took part in the making of the sweet bread mokoenya, according to the Telegraph. These were then given to journalists who were in attendance.

Recently, charity Mary Hare reported that its school was to be supported by Pippa Middleton, sister to Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (who is of course Prince Harry’s sister in law).

“It gives me great pleasure to be a supporter of Mary Hare and make a difference to the lives of deaf children,” Ms Middleton said. Discover more about our hearing tests.