16 Sep 2018

Humana People to People project leader Mr Keone Kgorotlhe says since July 2017 to date only three cases of malaria have been recorded in the North East District.

Mr Kgorotlhe explained that one case was reported in August last year, another in January and February this year.

Speaking at the leaders and stakeholders meeting at Tshesebe recently, Mr Kgorotlhe extended appreciation and gratitude to the North East District community including the health management team, adding that they managed to fulfil their mandate of eliminating malaria.

For her part, Humana People to People deputy country leader, Ms Shanah Kebonang said she believed their project would leave a positive impact and change the livelihoods of the North East District community and Batswana at large.

“Humana People to People stands shoulder to shoulder with the most disadvantaged people to build hope, unite people to fend for themselves, improve their livelihoods and life quality,” she said.

She said apart from the malaria programme they also had the Hope Humana programme, which was a community programme to equip people with knowledge on HIV, STIs and Tuberculosis.

Hope Humana also helps unites people in pursuing the fundamental goal of supporting one another and behavioural change to stop the AIDS epidemic, she noted.

Ms Kebonang also informed the meeting about the Humana Child Aid programme which focused on creating a conducive environment for children’s growth and wellbeing.

She stated that they also had the Farmers Club which targeted small scale farmers and trained them on  conservation farming.

She said with all the Humana programmes offered to Batswana, it was upon them to take a lead and help each other to fight issues affecting them.

“Donors come and go, they just pave a way so it is the society’s responsibility to take action and remember that a well informed and equipped community can liberate itself from all forms of dehumanising ills of society,” she added.

Humana People to People engages with people to help overcome challenges and create progress hence their journey to help North East District eliminate malaria and save lives.

She further urged Batswana to malaria seriously, describing the disease as deadly if left untreated for a long time.

Project coordinator, Mr Bonani Marabu said since they launched the project they managed to screen 29 593 people in the district and tested only 3 569, adding that they ran short of test kits.

He stated that shortage of test kits was not the only challenge they encountered, adding that they also had difficulties in tracking mobile populations especially in cases where there was an outbreak.

With test kits, Mr Marabu acknowledged their collaboration with the North East District health management team (DHMT), adding that priority was given to those showing signs and symptoms to save lives at an earlier stage.

The project nurse, Mr Kopano Thebenyane urged Batswana to get rid of breeding areas and encouraged them to fill up holes, de-bush and get rid of stagnant water.

He also advised the community to seek medical attention when they show flu like signs and symptoms such as fever, high temperatures and diarrhea.

Village leaders, Kgosi Tapson Jackalas of Jackalas No. 1, Kgosi Mollen Dube of Ramokgwebana and Kgosi Ngocha Habangana of Mapoka commended Humana People to People for bringing changes in their district.

They expressed gratitude on their hard work especially with children who had been absconding from school.

The leaders unanimously stated that if Batswana could unite and stand together they could win every war in the country, including elimination of malaria, HIV/AIDS, abuse, poverty, child negligence and others.

They also encouraged the organisation to continue saving Botswana and its future leaders. 

They however complained about the leaking water pipes, adding that stagnant water provided breeding areas for mosquitos. ENDS