20 Aug 2017

Legae La Bagodi, a non-profit making organisation has vowed to be a provider of care and support to the elderly in the community of Mmankgodi and surrounding villages.

In an interview, Tshotlego Serope, who is the organisation's secretary, said the organisation was formed by a group of women with the spirit of volunteerism, who had observed the struggles of some elderly people in the village who had no one to take care of them.

She said some of these elders were living with disability and had no one to fend for them.

“We have elders in the village who have lost their children to different ailments such as HIV  and AIDS as well as road accidents.

Others live alone because their children are either studying or working abroad while others have just chosen to abandon their parents,” Ms Serope explained.

It is after realising this that the late Ms Mosala, founder of Legae La Bagodi, assembled a group of women who were willing to volunteer to help these elders, Ms Serope pointed out.

She revealed they realised that elders were faced with an array of challenges because of old age, among these challenges lack of proper taking of medication as there is no one to remind them.

Further, they fail to go for medical checkups and as an organisation, they have taken it upon themselves to make clinical visits on behalf of such elders and get prescription re-fills .

“We also make home visits to see how we can help those who are vulnerable in terms of cooking, washing and cleaning to make a healthy and conducive environment for living for them,” Ms Serope added.

Ms Serope said that the organisation was working with the villages' welfare departments to help in identifying where there was need for assistance.

Even so, Ms Serope pointed out that Legae La Bagodi was not without challenges.

She said a major challenge that they faced was the local land board's reluctance to allocate them a plot where they intend to build an old age care centre, an issue she says they have raised with their area local authorities.

She acknowledged that house to house visits were not as effective as how an old age care cenre can be which she says is more convenient.

She also said that they relied on donations from private individuals and organisations and therefore appealed for support.

In conclusion, Ms Serope called upon all stakeholders to work with non-profit making organisations to bring change to communities. She said senior citizens have contributed immensely towards building the nation in that they are the custodians of culture, values and norms and therefore they ought to be taken care of. ENDS