01 Dec 2016

 Botho University student affairs department representative, Mr Tumelo Masalila, says there is need to show the spirit of oneness with children either by donations or spending time with them.

Speaking at Tshwaragano Primary School in Gaborone recently, Mr Masalila said their institution  decided to take part in 50 minutes with children campaign, a UNICEF in partnership with the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development initiative, so that they could spend time with children.

“There are many ways in which we can groom children by teaching them moral values and to be well rounded and we are trying to instil the spirit of sportsmanship in them. We are teaching them basketball and rugby which are not common in their area,” he said.

Their aim as an institution, he said was to keep children busy in order to take them away from bad habits like drug abuse and absconding from school.

Mr Masalila further said that they wanted to teach them the life skills.

For his part, Student Alumni and Affairs department team leader, Mr Keorapetse Setlhare said the 50 minutes with children initiative aimed to mobilise communities, individuals, corporates and policy makers to spend 50 minutes of their time doing something positive in children’s lives.

Mr Setlhare further explained that Botho University was taking part in the initiative as part of their corporate social responsibility and they had realised that children in Old Naledi did not have opportunities like those in other areas with sport facilities, hence their decision to introduce different sporting codes to Tshwaragano Primary School.

“There are many ways in which we can groom children by teaching them moral values and to be well rounded and we are trying to instil the spirit of sportsmanship in them because they also have talent despite the fact that they lack facilities in their area,’’ he said.ENDS