Think Twice Project launched in Ghanzi

Project is a sexuality education campaign to assist young San People

When I was approached by Ms Mathogojane, I was coincidentally tasked with the responsibility of chairing the District Council and I took it upon myself

Think Twice, a partnership between civil society organisations ( CSOs) from Botswana comprising of Letloa Trust, Men and Boys for Gender Equality, Humana People to People Botswana and Ghanzi District Council will work on delivering comprehensive sexuality education for the young San people, indigenous vulnerable groups, through educational theatre and drama to support inclusive participatory and empowerment of CSOs. Deputy Permanent Secretary ( Operations), in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Mmamiki Kamanakao said during the launch recently that according to the World Bank, the teenage pregnancy rate in Botswana was 68.3 per 1 000 girls aged 15 to 19 in 2019, a higher number than the average for sub- Saharan Africa which is 57.8 per 1 000 girls aged 15 to 19. Kamanakao further shared that, according to UNAIDS, the prevalence rate among adults aged 15 to 49 in Botswana is high, and while down from peak of 24.8 percent in 2005, it is still one of the highest rates in the world. In an analysis of the problem, she said there is lack of comprehensive sexuality education, which leaves young people without the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. In addition, Kamanakao, who is a social welfare and community development expert, said social and cultural factors may contribute to early sexual activity and lack of contraceptives use. “Botswana has a patriarchal society which may lead to gender based violence and lack of agency for young women in sexual relationships.

Also, poverty and limited access to healthcare may also contribute to the higher rates of teenage pregnancy and HIV/ AIDS incidents.” Kamanakao said to address the highlighted needs, the consortium plans to seek to undertake a three- year project dubbed, ink Twice, which will in the rst year be dedicated to training members of the respective societies and communities in the use of educational theatre and drama, so as to develop a curriculum of a training course on sexuality education and implement an innovation camp for designing learning activities of the training course. She also shared that the second year will be dedicated to development of a workbook for the training course and eventually implement a training course for 40 nurses, social workers, teacher organisations as well as an innovation camp for the youth movement to generate ideas for awareness raising campaign and development of video for combating HIV/ AIDS. “In the end of the second year, a consortium will prepare the brochure for healthy sexuality and begin the awareness raising campaign which will continue in the third year. e third year will be dedicated to supervision of nurses, social workers and teachers in delivering newly learned content to the young San people, local events, talks on TV and radio and nally with the conference to disseminating all the ndings and results of the action,” Kamanakao shared. Taka Tuka, a Slovenian civil society organisation is tasked with supporting the ink Twice Project with the aim to build capacity within the partnerships of the consortium, as well as local media to strengthen institutional and operational capacities and improving the environment in which CSOs in 10 settlements in Ghanzi. According to the organisation’s representative, Valentina Korbar, Taka Tuka Society was established in 2002 to promote creative approaches to learning with the central aim to development, research, implementation and promotion of using drama as a tool for creative learning in all education settings. “Taka Tuka operates with organisations from all over the world and together we are organising workshops, training courses, festivals, conferences and developing resources for educators. We are delighted to be working with the Ghanzi communities and all that has been possible by our friend whom we met in Israel during our training, Emelda Mathogojane.”

For her part, Mathogojane, Chief Social and Community Development Officer with the Ghanzi District Council, said she met Valentina Korbar while pursuing Masters in Child Welfare at the University of Haifa in Israel and out of their developing scholarly friendship, she shared her eld background in the Ghanzi District, while highlighting some of the many de lement cases she encountered on her duty errands. She said she needed some assistance on how to curb them and eventually seek support on how to instill some positive behavioural change skills among the young San people, particularly those residing in the settlements.

“Out of our developing friendship since 2018, a funding opportunity by Global Europe under the European Union ( EU) a call for support to civil society in Botswana was issued and I took advantage of the opportunity to work on the initiative, which sought to equip young people with knowledge and tools they would utilise to navigate the complexities of life thus the birth of ink Twice Project,” Mathogojane said. Ghanzi District Council Chairperson, Jeremiah Tibi expressed gratefulness to the EU for support of the initiative, which he described as a noble idea. He said he supported the initiative from its infancy stage as brought forward by Mathogojane.

“When I was approached by Ms Mathogojane, I was coincidentally tasked with the responsibility of chairing the District Council and I took it upon myself, and as part of my roadmap, to change the lives of the people of our District hence all along I have been supporting her over the years to ensure the project is rolled out. As a Council, we pledge support and are a committed part of the consortium,” Tibi said.