14 Oct 2018

A team of two youths from Child Avengers have embarked on a campaign to sensitise the community about child negligence, which seems to be rife in the Ngamiland District.

Child Avengers is a newly formed organisation that advocates for child protection.

The duo, Ms Tumisang Tsheko and Mr Cosmos Molodi are graduates of Young African Leadership Initiative (YALI) on civic education, which was held in July where they won some grant to conduct a community outreach programme of their preference.

In an interview, Ms Tsheko explained that she decided to team up with Mr Molodi to form Child Avengers to disseminate information on issues of child negligence because they had observed that children lacked parental guidance due to negligence.

She said they intended to equip the community with knowledge on the importance of parenting so that they raised children to be responsible citizens.

As part of the project, Child Avengers conducted a two-day workshop at Nhabe Museum focusing on issues related to child negligence.

The workshop, which attracted different organisations, also aimed to establish why child negligence was common in the district as well as discuss possible solutions to rectify the situation.

Ms Tsheko explained that they collaborated with Bana Ba Letsatsi to conduct the workshop because they dealt with such issues on daily basis. 

Bana Ba Letsatsi offers a place of safety for orphans and vulnerable children.

The objectives of the workshop, she said were to advocate for promotion and protection of children’s rights, to empower young people, especially students on the impact of child negligence, impacts on the nation and the economy of the country.

She revealed that the workshop also aimed to sensitise participants about penalties related to violation of children’s rights.

Mr Molodi said their project was a once-off activity as their organisation had not been registered, but stated that they intended to register and look for sponsors with an aim to fight child negligence.

Human rights project officer from Bana Ba Letsatsi, Mr Bonolo Kangongo, admitted that child negligence was worrisome and that it was done in different forms.

He cited that child negligence mostly affected children from single headed families as children lacked support from parents and the community.

Mostly, he said parents were not participating in their children’s upbringing and education but left the responsibility with teachers.

Mr Anthony Molosi, a YALI alumnae said they had trained 48 youth from Maun on civic education and appreciated efforts by Child Avengers in the society.

He said YALI alumni had made some proposals to the American Embassy to assist the Child Avengers with funding for the success of the project. ENDS