02 Apr 2017

The SOS Children’s Village setup plays a crucial role in today’s society, said acting deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism, Mr Thabang Botshoma.

Mr Botshoma said this during the ministry’s community service day at Tlokweng SOS.

He said today’s society was not knit tight, hence the need to care for those who would be misplaced from the family setup.

“SOS was established to look for children who have no one to care for them,” highlighted Mr Botshoma.

Traditionally, children were cared for by extended families and it has now become difficult for extended families to perform that responsibility, he added.

He said ‘grandparents are often the only ones left to care for the orphaned children and they usually depend on the support from the social system or international charities to meet their daily needs’.

“Growing up with ill parents or losing parents can be devastating for the development of the children and it is therefore extremely important to reach out to these children with psychological support,” added Mr Botshoma.

He said some of the grandparents left with the children were often illiterate and attached little importance to education, therefore the need for psychological support needed not be emphasised, taking into consideration the fragile backgrounds of such children.

Mr Botshoma stated that community service day, which was launched in 2010, had managed to give public service employees the opportunity to see what was happening in their communities and assist.

He said engaging the community was one way of transforming it into one of shared responsibilities, shared opportunities and indeed shared sense of community.

SOS programme director, Mr Boyce Otlhomile said they have about 150 children under their care and 17 homes.

He said they were doing their best to provide a functional family setup for the children at the centre.

Mr Otlhomile said some of their graduates had gone to have successful careers, adding that most of their children were referred to the centre by government institutions.

The Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism employees donated toiletries and clothing and they resuscitated the centre’s garden by planting trees as some of the activities of the community service day. ENDS