06 Mar 2014

Childline Botswana has launched an short message system (SMS) line for use as both a helpline and donation code.

The organisation's programme officer, Ms Olebile Machete, said the introduction of the SMS line followed realisation that Childline’s coverage of services was limited only to Gaborone, its surroundings and those with access to telephones.

“The situation therefore leaves out a vast majority of children and adults concerned with children from this important service,” said Ms Machete. The code will be accessible from all the three mobile operators in Botswana.

The arrangement would be such that everyone utilising the code as a helpline, they will have to send the word ‘’help’’ or “thuso” followed by a narrative of their situation or the form of assistance that they required to 16505.

The sms charge will be P2. The administrator would then extract such messages and pass them on to the counseling department to determine their intervention.

“Such human stories will be edited and pseudonyms used with advice offered and published in the Voice newspaper every two weeks as a way of reaching out and teaching members of the public on the instances of child abuse,” she noted.

When launching the line, the director of department of social protection in the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, Ms Ruth Radibe said the initiative had potential to greatly enhance the protection of children in Botswana.

The sms line would also be used to afford individuals an opportunity to donate to the organisation in an convenient and far less costly way, where one had to donate P2 by sending the word donate to 16505.

For those willing to donate more than this, they would have to contact Childine offices. Miss Radibe said a donation of P2 was not really that much for the majority of the population but could go a very long way in ensuring sustainable services for some of the country’s most vulnerable children.

Therefore, she implored Batswana to make just that minimal contribution. She said there were over 37 000 children registered in the orphan programme and about 31 000 in the vulnerable children program countrywide. “These children continuously receive support from government through a wide array of services,” she said.

She said the support that government continued to offer was not exhaustive of all children’s’ needs, and augmentation of the services was necessary.

Ms Radibe further said there were some children‘s needs that government could reach and support activities that addressed some of the gaps in government’s service provision was therefore critical. Ends