10 Dec 2013

Batswana have been urged to revive the spirit of giving which was practiced in the past with the aim to uplift other people’s living standards.

Speaking during a hand over of a two bed-roomed house to a needy student from the Sembonde family, Minister of Transport and Communication, Mr Nonofo Molefhi, said the time was now for all to offer assistance to needy members of the society. By so doing, Mr Molefhi said Batswana would be responding to President Lt Gen. Seretse Khama Ian Khama’s call to uproot poverty within community members.

He said reviving the initiative of self-reliance (boipelego and letsema) was critical now when government could not afford to take care of all the needs and aspiration of the communities. He said the nation should support each other with the aim to make a difference adding that the community could group themselves and start a project which would empower and improve others’ lives.

“People could start metshelo by contributing monies, identify where there is a need and do their best to ensure that they try to meet some of those needs,” he said. The house was built by Mohembo Primary School teachers with support from the business community, government departments and the community at large. Meanwhile, Mr Molefhi commended the teachers for demonstrating love and compassion to a needy student from their school noting that they had shown that indeed they did not only care about children’s academic but their social welfare as well.

“It is a good move for teachers to do follow ups to appreciate challenges faced by pupils and come up with best solutions to meet some of the needs of our children,” he added.

He underscored the need for parents’ support and collaboration to enhance their relationship with teachers towards the education system. He said parents must play their role in the education system as well as encourage their children to take education seriously. The school head, Ms Janet Moruti said teachers had proved that they were “jack of all trades.”

Their mandate, she said was not only to impart knowledge but also to ensure that children were comfortable, well fed so that they were in a better frame of mind when they come to school. She said they embarked on the project after realising that the beneficiary was not attending school properly as at times she would come in an untidy uniform or absconded from school.

“We did follow -ups to see her parents and the child confessed that she sometimes slept over at a friend’s  place because of hunger and lack of parental support” she said.

Since then, Ms Moruti said the school established a close relationship with the family and applied for a plot and built a house for them as they were challenged with shelter. The director of education in Ngamiland region, Mr Acronews Maseko praised teachers for a job well done and encouraged them to continue coming up with more projects to restore dignity among the needy students.

The area MP, Mr Bagalatia Arone thanked the school for responding positively to help needy students. He also commended the business community for always planting back to the community to augment government efforts to uplift the living standards of the less under-privileged society. ENDS