02 Jul 2018

North West district officer administration, Ms Oabona Kalwetse has commended Sehithwa Village Extension Team (VET) for assisting underprivileged members of society.

Ms Kalwetse said this at the handing over of a two-bedroomed house to 12-year-old Gopelomang Gosalamang, who is living with disability at Sehithwa recently.

Ms Kalwetse encouraged the village extension team to continue with the good spirit, adding that every child had the right to life whether living with disabilities or not.

She also implored individuals and the corporate world to also extend a helping hand to those in need.

“Having a shelter to your own name restores dignity, so maintain that kind gesture of reinstating and renewing the hopes of those in need,” she said.

She advised the beneficiary to take care of the house for it could be a legacy to many generations only if properly taken care of.

Sehithwa VET vice chairperson and also school head for Sehithwa Primary School, Ms Sarah Hiyoveni said at first the teachers came up with the idea of helping Gopelomang with shoes after realising that her mother carried her on her back every morning to school because she could not walk.

Ms Hiyoveni said teachers together with other public officers appealed to the Ministry of Health and Wellness to assist the pupil with shoes which helped her to easily move around.

The idea of building the pupil a house came after their only hut was gutted-down by fire together with the family’s belongings in 2013.

She said the team was able to construct the house through monetary and non-monetary contributions, voluntarism from Ipelegeng and Department of Buildings and Electrical Services and the Ministry of Health and Wellness, which contributed P10 000 towards the construction of the house.

She however said constructing the house was not smooth.

The team managed through the help of different stakeholders.

Ministry of Health and Wellness also donated a wheelchair worth P25 000, which would also be serviced by the ministry.

For her part, Gopelomang’s mother, Ms Elizabeth Gosalamang thanked the village extension team and the ministry of health for the donation, saying her daughter now had a decent shelter and wheel chair and her movement would no longer be limited.

“I hope your good deeds will not come to an end in my homestead, go on and improve the lives of other underprivileged people in this country,” she said. ENDS