05 Jun 2022

 Mabu First Born Project has been hailed as a good initiative that can help to revive the old practice where the birth of a baby was celebrated by the whole community. Giving a keynote address during the launch of the project in Mmathethe village on Friday, minister of Health and Wellness Dr Edwin Dikoloti encouraged community members to collaborate in the guidance and nurturing of children into good citizens. 

“When we grew up we knew that it took the whole village to raise a child. We knew that a child didn’t belong to his or her parents alone, and that is the spirit which is being encouraged by project Mabu,” said the minister. Project Mabu, through which a first baby born in every district this year would be celebrated through some gifts, was the brainchild of the High Commission of South Africa to Botswana.

 The SA High Commissioner to Botswana, Ms Thaninga Shope-Soumah said they would roll out the project to each of the 18 district councils in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness. “It is a great pleasure for us to participate in the first official handing over of hampers donated to the first baby born in 2022 in each district. 

The main aim of this project is to bring a little bit of joy to the families of these little ones and indeed to the entire community. 

We want to celebrate with the families and say welcome to the little ones,” said the SA High Commissioner. She pointed out that the project would not have been possible without support from CA Sales, Choppies, Kalahari Training Institute, Flo Tek and Woolworths Botswana, which donated the hampers. She said the project would continue every year with the objective of addressing the needs of families. 

The project coordinator Ms Gomolemo Mmadikgetla explained that the Mabu project was all about generosity. “Mabu refers to being loving, nurturing, caring and embracing. 

It describes being of a benevolent character. It is that very essence that this project wants to nurture,” she said. 

She said through the Mabu project, multiple stakeholders came together under the common aim of generosity and spreading hope and joy through giving.

 Ms Mmadikgetla they aimed to grow the project around the country so that it could have a meaningful impact on society. 

“We want to see project Mabu being contagious in how it spreads and grows in the country,” she said. A baby girl from Mmathethe village born on January 1, Gouta Poomore, was the first recipient of the project. 

The gifts included food hampers, baby clothes and a go-cart, amongst others. Her mother Ms Ame Poomore thanked all the stakeholders of the Mabu project for their generous act. ENDS