18 Jul 2018

Bagogi Support Group which is a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has never looked back since its inception in 2012 in its quest to care for the orphans, less privileged and vulnerable children at Gakuto and surrounding villages.

Speaking in an interview with BOPA, the founder of the organisation Ms Neo Modiagele said it started in 2012 with the mandate of helping the less privileged and vulnerable children from the ages of 1 year to 17 years at Gakuto and surrounding villages such as Kopong, Metsimotlhabe and Mmatseta.

Ms Modiagele said, after realising that there were many children at Gakuto who were not growing up in stable families, some from less privileged homes she then came up with the idea of assisting such children through her organisation.

She said such children were exposed to poor living conditions, some vulnerable to different forms of abuse and some without clothes and proper meals, therefore such children deserved to be cared, loved and appreciated.

Ms Modiagele said her organisation had adopted 104 children who most of them visit the centre on daily basis from their homes and then provided with food and educational enrichment. She said about 14 children had been offered accommodation to stay at the centre as they did not have proper homes and they were also provided with clothing.

Ms Modiagele said the organisation depended largely on funds from different companies for rent, food, furniture and clothes. Therefore the organisation has to responsibly utilise available resources in order to keep running.

She said the organisation was engaged in different activities in order to raise funds. She said they organise annual events such as sponsored walks, raffles and beauty pageants and have since been beneficial to the centre.

“The community of Gakuto has been very supportive to the centre as they volunteer to help us; they come to the centre to help children with different activities such as cooking and washing laundry. Even the village leadership play a major role in supporting the centre anyhow they can all the time”, she said.

Ms Modiagele said even though the centre was doing well it was faced with several challenges such as shortage of funds as it is dependent on donations from companies.

She said another challenge was shortage of water. They only have one Jojo tank which she said was not enough to maintain the whole centre. She said they use water for different activities such as laundry and cooking.

A parent, Ms Shathiso Bankemetse has applauded the centre for its compassion and care towards their children. She said their children were taken care of and also provided with quality education.

Ms Bankemetse said as parents they were empowered with important tips on how to better care for their children, which she said had given them hope and self-confidence.

She said even though every child deserved a home like any other, centres like Bagogi Support Group were vital for child growth, therefore she urged some parents and guardians who could not afford to take care of such children to make arrangements with the centres.

Kgosi Mokganedi Rabokala commended the organisation for their good work. He said, it was a good initiative which would mould children to be better parents and leaders.Kgosi Rabokala said his desire was for the organisation to grow and be able to have its own structure so that it cuts costs. Ends