Bandleng Men’s Conference to address men’s issues
Bandleng Social Club will host the first ever Men’s Conference in Botswana at the Lobatse Town Park on November 19, 2022. The chairperson of Men’s Conference Committee, Loatile Seboni, says the club decided to host the conference because they wanted to create an environment where men could freely express themselves and discuss issues that affect men on a daily basis. She further said Botswana did not have a history of violence but nowadays not a day passes without seeing and hearing about cases of violence in the media as in radio bulletins, newspaper articles. The majority of the cases are perpetrated by men. “The front page heading of the Botswana Gazette newspaper of the July 27, 2022 that read, “300 murders in three months” was a shock to our system because it basically illustrated a nation that is in deep pain, a nation that’s in transition and needs help. We are saying it cannot be right what we experience almost on daily basis, the kind of violence that is mostly seen on movies and we just sit back and watch.
We believe through gathering and conversing over the issues bedeviling society as men are the first step toward finding healing,” she explained.
She pointed out that they decided on the conference first and foremost to celebrate, honour men, and recognise the important role that they should play as fathers, brothers, boyfriends, sons, uncles, colleagues in their society and yet seem somewhat wanting. She said the growing violence in their society was testament of that.
The theme for the conference is “Unlocking the Power of Men and Boys to Make Our Town Better.” Seboni added that the programme would cover issues of mental health, prostate cancer, a cancer that has become a menace to the lives of men, GBV, relationships tips, sex tips, style, grooming, money and family, personal wealth, and hobbies. Men are facing too many challenges but cannot express themselves like women do. When they do not have money, their partners leave them.
Through this conference they intend to discuss and find the root cause of violence because in most cases men are the perpetrators. She added that if they could identify the root cause of men being perpetrators, they would be able to find solutions.
“We also want to say to those feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of everyday life “Man-up and StepUp Gents.” The event will be a combination of speaking, music, exhibitions of vendors targeting men from clothing, grooming, health, beverages and other opportunities in business. At the forefront of organising the Bandleng Men’s Conference is a group of people who grew up in Lobatse and formed themselves into a social club with the aim and objectives of bringing back the groove into Lobatse, a town of many firsts, with a rich history that is in history books, some untold, some unfolding as the years go by,” she stated.
She added that they intended to make the event more relaxing for men. She also said they will have different stalls that sell services and products for men such as clothing, massages and facials.
She explained that even though people could look handsome outside, they also had to look the same internally therefore the need for the conference to counsel and address issues that are never talked about. “In the past we have been reading about men’s conference on social media and South African newspapers. People took it as a joke and always made funny comments like you have to ask for a visa from your wife.
We sat down as a club and decided to bring all men from different parts of Botswana to attend the men’s conference.” “We encourage people around Lobatse such as Kanye, Moshupa, Thamaga, Otse and others to partake in this event. If this event succeeds, next year we will be taking it to Gaborone. We will have one fun day in a relaxed environment,” said Bandleng Social Club Public Relations Officer
Jim Kelly.