29 Dec 2016

A group of women in Letlhakeng have founded one of the successful community based societies named Shegotja Molelo Society.
According to one of the co-founders, Ms Goleba Mokwena, the society was founded in 2007, but officially registered with the register of societies in 2011.
On the choice of name, Ms Mokwena said Shegotja Molelo was a Sekgalagadi phrase which means that which lights fire.
“As Batswana we believe that fire is life as we even recently symbolised it with the roving torch which we believed united us.  We decided to call this society the name of this kind looking at the fact that it brought life where there seemed to be no hope,” she said.
According to Ms Mokwena, the Kweneng West region was the most poverty stricken, which has left many women vulnerable to consequences like struggling to bury their loved ones or hosting weddings.
“As we all know funerals come mostly unexpected and are not optional.  So assisting women in such dire moments was the sole reason the society was formed.  Today we have managed to assist in over 100 funerals, financially and with tangible food items,” she said.
The other reason for the existence of the society, which is exclusively open to women between the ages of 18 and 75, is to focus more on the upliftment of women in the area, hence its current effort in compiling a database of women in business in an effort to identify the market and opportunities for their various products.
It has also done donations to institutions such as schools and building houses for its underprivileged members.
Headquartered in Letlhakeng, the rapidly growing society has 18 branches across the country with over 5 000 registered members.
It has managed to officially open and launch branches in places like; Takatokwane, Motokwe, Tsetseng, Lehututu, Hukuntsi and even as far as Kanye.
Just like any other organization, Shegotja Molelo Society is not immune to challenges as they struggle with issues such as transport for daily office chores.
“We hope that one day a Good Samaritan would donate a minibus to help us with transport. We would greatly appreciate that as transport is our main challenge at the moment,” she said.
She said frequent meetings have also proved a challenge as women are the cores of families and cannot afford to be away so often and too long.
 Despite these challenges Ms Mokwena said what has always kept them moving is the fact that they are determined to achieve their mission. ENDS