07 Aug 2016

The second president, Sir Ketumile Masire, says children raised in intact families have higher academic achievements, better emotional health and fewer behavioural problems.

Sir Ketumile was speaking at a reception to award honorary certificates to members and non-members of Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA), who had been in marriage for the past 50 years in Gaborone on Saturday. He said intact families were more likely to transfer their positive values to their children, resulting in them being happier and God fearing adults with healthier and stable romantic relationships.

Sir Ketumile said couples that were being honoured were a testimony to the fact that although marriage was challenging, they had withstood the challenge and emerged victors in their own right.

“They affirmed that there is no perfect family and never has been, not even in the Bible. The families of Adam, Abraham, David and others all had their own issues. The only perfect families can be found in fairytales,” he said.

He said, “these men and women stand as witnesses that by God’s grace we also can survive in marriage and be a shining example. It is God’s intention that through marriage we assist each other to achieve complete maturity.” He said through families, parents demonstrated to their children that “Christ is a tender, loving and compassionate father.” Moreover, Sir Ketumile noted that the couples reminded all  that “marriage is a fundamental building block upon whom the strength of every society depends.”
He said when couples were married and lived well; they excel in relationship quality as compared to their unmarried or cohabitating counterparts.

However, he raised a concern that substance abuse which had found to be more prevalent among families where the other parent is not present, adding that strong and happy marriages translate to strong societies.
Sir Ketumile, who confessed that he managed what he did in life because of the sacrifices of his late wife, noted that these couples forwent pleasures and fantasies they could have enjoyed themselves a little longer but chose to be patient and kind.
“Our times are difficult in as far as marriage is concerned.

This is because our marriages can break over almost anything. But, our parents survived real issues. They survived distant relationships as some of them worked in the mines in South Africa. They survived ridicule, in-law sarcasm and arrogance, so that they can motivate us,” he said. ENDS