26 Sep 2022

Government attaches great importance to the role played by the church in providing both material and spiritual support to vulnerable groups within  communities.

Assistant Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Setlhabelo Modukanele said this at a donation ceremony hosted by the Altar of God Church where the church donated toiletry, clothes and blankets to SOS Serowe on Saturday. Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Mr Kgotla Autlwetse also donated P2 000.

The theme of the day was: Taking Works of Love Beyond the Church. Mr Modukanele said the donation would not only benefit the centre, but would also augment the support provided by government and other stakeholders.

He said the success of the country would rest on the ability to provide support to vulnerable groups “Much of our success as a nation can be attributed to the intervention of the church. The church has been a partner in the development of this country even before independence and it is commendable,’’ Mr Modukanele said.He said over the years Botswana had ensured a conducive environment to foster the operation and growth of the church in order to provide the much needed support to communities. He also noted that the church had provided support to government by building schools, hospitals and provision of other social services.

He stated that they would always remain indebted to the support provided by the church in the development of the country.

Mr Modukanele noted that government had come up with various programmes geared towards improving the livelihood of Batswana.

The programmes, he said, were aligned with the ideals of Vision 2036, the Reset Agenda and the ministry’s five strategy and transformation plan anchored on six pillars. He said the pillars included building resilient and sustainable local economies as well as providing social protection services and other government policy pronouncements.

Mr Modukanele said government was committed to ensuring the moral regeneration of society as espoused by the congregation and the entire nation. He said government was encouraged by an increasing number of Batswana, particularly young people, who had responded to the call for positive change.

The assistant minister said  Botswana, like many developing countries, was grappling with numerous challenges such as poverty and youth unemployment.

Serowe SOS’s Mr Thabo Botshelo said the children came from different parts of the country after losing parental care.

He said most of the children were cared for by extended families and that sometimes it was impossible for the extended family to take on the responsibility of more children.

He noted that grandparents were often the only ones left to care for orphaned children, and that they usually depended on support from the social system to meet their daily needs.ENDS