Creating a Botswana safe for Children
Pretty Gorata Tshephe is a standard seven pupil at McCarty Primary School.
Sharing her educational and life experiences in a letter recently, Tshephe detailed that her biggest wish is to study, and complete her education without failure. But there are some obstacles standing in her way.
“We are suffering at home. Our parents are not working and can’t buy us clothes and other things. We are not given enough uniforms. Our parents rely on poverty eradication programmes to earn their living”, she wrote, in the heart- breaking letter.
She continued that they need warm clothes, luxury things like school bags and so forth.
“Feeding is very poor at home. We lack nutritional meals. We do not have proper shelter- we live in one roomed huts which accommodate many people,” she cried in the letter.
She said they have a limit of socialisation due to COVID- 19, and this makes it difficult for her and her peers to learn and motivate each other.
Her letter was read this past Sunday by the UNICEF Representative, Dr. Joan Matji during the ongoing Dads Cookout Battle.
The Cookout is an initiative by UNICEF and Men and Boys for Gender Equality, in partnership with Avani Gaborone Resort and Casino. The cookout is held under the theme: Reimagine Parenting. June is the Global Parenting Month.
Speaking about the letter and how it has touched her, Dr. Matji said Tshephe’s story represents many children in Botswana, whose deprivations are hidden under the average of success that is often portrayed in the country.
According to Matji, a recent study conducted by UNICEF and Statistics Botswana indicates that 63 percent of children living in rural areas face more deprivations than their counterparts in the rest of the country. Tshephe’s story is just one of them.
She came upon the story of Tshephe during a recent visit to Tsabong and surrounding settlements, where she attended the Commemorations of the Day of the African Child.
From the interactions with the community, she listened to parents who narrated their daily ordeals such as limited access to health amenities, limited access to groceries, shortage of water, travelling long distance for medical help, to mention a few.
She said the challenges faced by Tshephe and her peers can be resolved by deliberately investing in parenting programmes, designing interventions that break generational poverty and truly ensuring that no child is left behind.
“Today as we celebrate Father’s Day and cook up a storm, I want you to remember her and her friends who face similar if not worse deprivations,” Matji appealed.
She explained that the young girl comes from a community that is in dire need of basic amenities such as a mobile stop clinic, and has no public transport that connects her village and Tsabong.
“Children in her community look forward to school because that is where they get their only meal of the day,” she said and urged her audience to do their bit to help the young girl and her community.
Tshephe is not only in McCarty but is also in Ghanzi, Okavango, and even in Gaborone. “As we reimagine a prosperous Botswana by 2034, we also need to reimagine how we assist parents like those of Pretty to create a Botswana that is safe for children,” she said.
There is also need to reimagine how parents and caregivers are supported because evidence- based parenting programmes, mental health services for parents are proven accelerators to drive change across multiple child life outcomes.
“They are an accelerator for preventing poor learning and poor mental health outcomes, low wages and intergenerational cycles of poverty, exclusion and adversity,” she said.