SHUNNED FOR DYSLEXIA Spirited sister has the last laugh
Her dyslexic brother was rejected by every school
Children with dyslexia require a guiding hand and understanding but not ridicule, says protective sister and founder of Dyslexia & Social Support Services Botswana, Letang Ramoshabati-Jiri. Her brother, Bonolo Ramoshabati (20) is dyslexic, a learning difficulty that makes it harder to read and write due to problems identifying speech sounds and learning how they relate to letters and words (decoding).
But throughout his struggles at school his parents didn’t always know that. “Everyone just thought he was slow or dumb,” says Jiri. However, although he could not read or write he excelled in drawing and is a good artist who also does really well in long distance running.
“He always had bad handwriting, poor grades and had very little desire for school. As you can imagine, his self-esteem was really low and so he would play with kids much younger than him or want to be just around me.
“One time, I remember he came home more excited than I had seen him in a long time. He told me teacher said he might be failing everything else but he was the best in class in Chinese. He didn’t realise the teacher was mocking him. It broke my heart,” shared the 31-year-old Jiri.
After Bonolo failed Standard 7 none of the junior schools would admit him and Jiri says headmasters would come up with all sorts of reasons not to have him at their schools. He stayed five years at home doing nothing and that is when Jiri decided to stand up for him.
“I decided to take him to a private school which was very expensive and after two terms with no improvement and some consultations with the teachers, I was referred to a special education school called LRC in Mogoditshane.”
After a few months of classes, the teacher recommended a formal assessment with an educational psychologist.
“I approached the Central Resource Centre (CRC) in Tlokweng and I was told that there was a two-year waiting list for child assessments. I felt I cannot stay at home with a child for two years I decided to use my own funds to get my brother assessed in South Africa and it costs R2000 per hour for three hours.
“I returned to Botswana and I tried to seek placement space for him in vocational tertiary schools and I was told there is no space and that they take children who have qualified.
“I then approached Ministry of Basic Education at the Department of Special Needs and with the assistance from the Office of the President (OP) he was placed at Motswedi Rehabilitation Centre where he managed to enrol for carpentry and he graduated in 2020 and he
She never gave up, now has a skilled brother
is currently on internship at NATA Timbers,” said the proud guardian, Jiri. She has witnessed her brother’s self-esteem improve and life becoming better for him after diagnosis. “After this experience, I felt that no child must go through such an experience like what my brother went through and something inside me pushed me to know more about dyslexia.
“I enrolled for studies in the UK and I am now a member of the British Dyslexia Association. I am also a member of the International Dyslexia Association USA and I founded Dyslexia and Social Support Services Botswana (DSSSB),” she explained. The organisation, managed by a team of professionals and working with volunteer specialists from all over the world in various capacities, specialises in assisting people living with learn
ing disabilities. It aims to capacitate people living with dyslexia so that they can have meaningful participation in social and economic activities in their country; improve the chances of progression of children with dyslexia into institutions of higher learning through providing after school support, remedial solutions and to help create an inclusive education system that is flexible which includes different learning environments and different kinds of support so that individuals can learn effectively according to their intellectual capacity, skills, talents, and interest.
“Our story has been a lesson,” says Jiri. “No child should go through what Bonolo went through for a fault that is not their own. For them to thrive, they have to be taught in a way that they understand,” she said.