04 Jul 2016

Thamaga Apostolic Faith Mission (AFM) recently donated 12 optical glasses to the less privileged during a wellness event held in the village.

Giving a keynote address, the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Communications, Ms Rose Sennanyana commended AFM for taking their ministry beyond the pulpit and making an effort to raise awareness on the importance of good mental, physical and spiritual health in people’s lives.

“Many times, wellness is often associated with the absence of diseases. It is however more than that. 

Wellness actually relates to the quality or state of being healthy in both body and mind.

 It is about preventing illness and prolonging one’s life,” she said.

Ms Sennanyana emphasised that wellness was also about lifestyle, hence the theme: Your health, your responsibility.

“The theme is relevant as it shifts responsibility of one’s health to each individual. It is saying to each one of us ‘what choices have I made or am I making to stay healthy?” she stated.

She implored the congregants to take the responsibility of taking care of themselves physically, emotionally and psychologically by including exercising, eating healthy foods and eliminating risky behaviour such as smoking and excessive consumption of alcohol. “As we prepare to celebrate 50 years of independence in the next few months and bringing to a close Vision 2016, we should be motivated by the goals achieved and be encouraged to work harder and smarter towards those goals that were not achieved,” she said.

She stated that such goals could not be achieved if the nation was not healthy. She said Batswana should ensure that they took part in ensuring that the goals that were set as a nation were realised.

For his part the leader of AFM, Reverend Jobe Koosimile said the objectives of the wellness event were to enable community members to get their health checked including diabetes, HIV testing and oral health among others.

He said they found it fit to provide health education to the community to help them make informed decisions regarding their health.

“We also wanted to inspire them to improve their nutritional levels and promote physical activity with the intention of improving community health and thus reducing obesity,” he stated.

He, however, stated that their main objective was to give out optical glasses to members of the community including students. 

He thanked to Dr Seabelo Maje of 4-Eyes Optometrist for offering to do the eye testing for free. 

He said the church only bought the lenses. 

Screenings for various health conditions was available and presentations on different topics such as cancer, diabetes and depression among others were made.ENDS