17 Sep 2020

 The First Lady, Ms Neo Masisi, has praised Letsopa Junior Secondary School in Lobatse and a charity organisation for building a house for a 16-year-old pupil with rare medical condition.  

The wheelchair-confined  Rethabile Chaba was born with a rare birth defect known as phocomelia (without arms and legs).

Ms Masisi explained on September 16  at a groundbreaking ceremony for construction of the project that the love and care provided by the society would enable Rethabile to curve a bright future, despite her challenging state.

“Construction of this home forms an important building block for her future. It tells her that the community cares, has compassion and more importantly that she is much a part of this community as all of us,” the first lady said.

Ms Masisi also noted that the project showed commitment towards attaining social inclusion and equality as enshrined in Vision 2036.

The First Lady commended Letsopa JSS administration for ensuring a comfortable and enabling learning environment for Rethabile by providing ramps and modifying some bathrooms to accommodate her.

Consultancy organisation, Adverts and Charity, partnered with Letsopa JSS to construct the home in a plot provided by Lobatse Town Council at Pitikwe location.

“Rethabile was identified in December 2019 by one of our employees. Since then the company has adopted her with the help of Letsopa JSS and this is how our partnership with the school started,” Adverts and Charity director, Ms Gillian Tengani said.

She further pointed out that her organisation helped the school build ramps around the school and at Rethabile’s current residence to assist her in and out of the rooms with a wheelchair without difficulty.

She further said they built a toilet and bathroom in the school’s guidance and counselling room for Rethabile and other challenged pupils.

“After witnessing all the above work, Letsopa JSS approached Adverts and Charity to partner with the school to build a home for Rethabile. We welcomed the idea and started working on the project as partners.  Our priority is to construct a permanent structure that will make her self-reliant,” Ms Tengani said.    

Letsopa guidance and counselling senior teacher, Ms Lekwalo Thobega, described Rethabile as a humble and determined child.

“She perseveres against all odds and uses her neck to write. She likes being independent and always find ways of doing things. She has dreams and it is only us and the entire nation who can help her become what she wants to be,” she said.ends