Although teenage pregnancy is does not doom one to a life of poverty. It does make it harder, and when your in a developing country it could be next to impossible. In the country of Botswana teenage pregnancies and forced marriages are widespread. Sometimes teenage pregnancies can involve teachers impregnating students. A workshop in Botswana put on by the Women’s Affairs Department issues a statement of the effect of this social ill. from theDaily News Online Botswana An official from the Botswana National Productivity Centre (BNYC), Mr Emmanuel Galeboe, said there was an alarming rate of inter generational sex in the region, which also leads to impoverishment of the girl child.He said most of the young people involved in this cross generation sex end up either pregnant or infected...
Wow! We are totally gobsmacked by the number of people joining our Facebook group 'Build a school in Africa.' The interest in our project is overwhelming. It's interesting how many people want to help us with the project as well. Several teacher friends have expressed an interest in working in Zambia once the school and outreach projects have started!Our fundraising venture is in its infancy at the moment but the rollercoaster ride is about to get exciting! Ideally an Angel Investor who believes in our project would be a godsend but we are so grateful to all those people who have committed themselves to supporting us financially. It really is the case that every little bit helps.Please pray for us. We believe that God has called us to this work. When Betty and I moved to Liverpool 5 years...
Thembinkosi Foundation has been developed and has taken on an added dimension. It is no longer merely a blog about my experiences of living and working in Botswana and Zambia and my thoughts about life and religion in Sub Saharan Africa. Thembinkosi Foundation now has a mission to bring high quality Catholic education to Zambia. Through the grace of God Thembinkosi Foundation will raise the required funds to build and sustain the Zambezi International Catholic School on the shores of the Zambezi River in the Kazangula District of Southern Province, Zambia. The project we invisage is tremendously exciting and we are sure can have a real impact in developing and sustaining education across the region.The Thembinkosi Foundation promotes the interests of those affected by HIV/AIDS in...
from All AfricaMmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)By Onalenna ModikwaSelebi-PhikweThe plea for assistance of any sort is plain on the desperate faces of the destitute Motlhabane family of Botshabelo Township.The situation is so pathetic that the signs of surrender to the biting economic times are evident to every passer-by.The two makeshift structures that could collapse any time are home to the 24 family members. Two family members died and the other one was buried in July this year. Their parents - father and mother - passed away in 1992 and 1996 respectively.Upon entering their unfenced yard, one is greeted by a broken plastic chair, which was once white, but has since become dark brown. The hope for a moment of happiness from a stranger who enters the home painfully fades away as the family...
from Mmegi OnlineBRIAN BENZASTAFF WRITERPoverty levels are expected to fall to an all time low of 23 percent by 2009 on the back of continued economic growth which has earned Botswana rave reviews as Africa's leader in poverty reduction, President Festus Mogae said in Parliament. In his State of the Nation address on Monday, Mogae stated that economic growth, which averaged nine percent during the country's first four decades and now hovers around four percent, has pulled down poverty levels from as high as almost 60 percent two decades ago."Continued economic growth has contributed to a steady reduction in poverty from 59 percent in 1986 to 47 percent in 1994 to our latest figure of 30 percent," President Mogae said."Our progress has earned us the accolade of being a leader in poverty...
from All AfricaThe Voice (Francistown)NEWSThe Evangelical Fellowship of Botswana (EFB) has called on Batswana to familiarize themselves and utilize platforms geared towards poverty eradication and improving the standard of living.In commemorating the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Wednesday, October 17, EFB secretary general, Pastor Owen Isaacs, explained that his organisation would participate in the Global Call to Action Against Poverty's initiative: "Stand Up And Speak". He said the initiative involved people all over the world standing up to remind their Governments of the commitments they undertook in the 2000 Millennium Declaration to halve the number of people living in extreme poverty by 2015.And in observing this day, Isaacs pointed out that while poverty is...
from All AfricaInter Press Service (Johannesburg)Joel KonopoGaboroneDespite Botswana's high rate of economic growth over the past two decades, it is unlikely that the country will halve the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day by 2015. However, significant progress has been made towards halving the proportion of people suffering from hunger.Botswana's average economic growth has been more than seven percent over the past 20 years. Per capita gross domestic product figures show an increase from about 1,600 dollars in 1980 to almost 10,000 dollars today.However, according the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) 47 percent of the population live below the poverty line of a dollar per day. Half of female-headed households live on less than one dollar a day.Dorcus...
One of the amazing sights one can see in Botswana is a river with no water. This is a picture of the Shashe River just outside Francistown. In the rainy season it is full of water but in the dry season one would not even know that it's a river! When the rain starts to fall one finds 4x4 vehicles off-roading in the river. Great fun!The Thembinkosi Foundation promotes the interests of those affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa....
Road traffic accidents are a big killer across Sub-Saharan Africa. Amazingly Road Traffic Accidents is Africa's third biggest killer! It is amazing just how many people lose their lives or are seriously injured in accidents across the region. A look through any of Africa's newspapers will reveal that they happen with depressing regularity.Despite public outrage at the time, little seems to happen to ensure safety on the roads.Governments frequently lack the political will or the funds to improve the situation.In Botswana, for example, accidents are caused by factors that affect most of the region. Poor roads, animals roaming on major carriageways, excessive speed, badly maintained vehicles and worst of all, drink driving, contribute to the situation. Botswana, as a relatively wealthy...
You can smell them a few miles off. The decomposing carcasses of cattle and donkeys littering the highway. I used to drive 40km's to work - from Francistown to Tonota - on the main carriageway that runs north to south across the east of Botswana. On many mornings I would encounter this hideous smell. The smell would last for days until the carcass had been picked clean by the vultures.When one got the whiff of death in the nostrils one knew what had happened. An animal roaming on the road had been hit and killed by a vehicle. Often this would result in the death of the driver and passangers. Sometimes the driver may have been speeding - very unwise at night time in Bots but if the bloody animals weren't on the road then dozens of deaths could be avoided every year! The situation is...
Drinking and driving is part of the culture for many people (nearly always men) in the parts of Sub-Saharan Africa that I know best. Whilst living in Botswana my wife and I used to frequent Area L. Area L basically consists of a large car park surrounded on three sides by bars and butcheries. Every night of the week trade is brisk and at weekends the area is packed. Groups of people arrive by car, quite often 4x4's, buy their beer and braai (BBQ) their meat. There is a great atmosphere and it is a scene which can be found in its different guises all over the region. People will eventually move on from the area to other bars in the city - and virtually everyone will travel by car. The practice of taking one's car when going out drinking and then of driving from one bar to another is a...
Three years ago whilst living in Francistown, Botswana I wasa regular visitor to Zimbabwe. Every other weekend my family and I would cross the border into Zims with groceries for our relatives. We did not cross the border exclusively to assist otehrs though; we crossed because we loved the warm welcome and happy atmosphere of Bulawayo. On our recent trip we didn't enter Zim. We received mixed advice about the wisdom of doing so. With the benefit of hindsight I think we should have have gone - to visit family but also to see for ourselves how things have changed. It was only the fear of harrassment from the police that detered me. I have always coped with it previously but this time I just felt I didn't have the patience to cope. The stories of people being strip searched at the border as...
This article from Mmegi in Botswana about the Miss Stigma Free 2006 pageant gladden my heart. I know beauty pageants are frowned upon these days in the liberalised northern hemisphere but they're big business all over sub-saharan Africa."I am very happy to have won this crown. I feel that I have achieved what I wanted. This will give me a chance to pursue my mission of sensitising the public about HIV/AIDS," said the jubilant Regina Lesole after she was crowned Miss Stigma Free 2006.Lesole, former teacher and counsellor at Mahalapye Tebelopele Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre scooped the crown during a colourful event held at Orapa and Letlhakane mines Sports hall. The annual pageant is designed to encourage people to eradicate HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination and to...
This editorial from The Voice in Botswana caught my eye. It points to a very worrying trend facing those living with HIV in sub-saharan Africa. As I've alluded to in previous posts non-adherence to treatment is a big issue in Bots!'There were two related reports that emerged at the recently ended 16th International AIDS conference in Toronto that caught our attention and hopefully the attention of every responsible citizen who don't want to see this country's human resources decimated by HIV /AIDS.These are the reports that TB strains resistant to first and second line drugs have been found among HIV-Positive people in our neighbour, South Africa and another one which states that first line drugs are no longer working for a growing number of people living with HIV who are now in need of...
One of the amazing sights one can see in Botswana is a river with no water. This is a picture of the Shashe River just outside Francistown. In the rainy season it is full of water but in the dry season one would not even know that it's a river! When the rain starts to fall one finds 4x4 vehicles off-roading in the river. Great fun!The Thembinkosi Foundation promotes the interests of those affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa....
Three years ago whilst living in Francistown, Botswana I wasa regular visitor to Zimbabwe. Every other weekend my family and I would cross the border into Zims with groceries for our relatives. We did not cross the border exclusively to assist otehrs though; we crossed because we loved the warm welcome and happy atmosphere of Bulawayo. On our recent trip we didn't enter Zim. We received mixed advice about the wisdom of doing so. With the benefit of hindsight I think we should have have gone - to visit family but also to see for ourselves how things have changed. It was only the fear of harrassment from the police that detered me. I have always coped with it previously but this time I just felt I didn't have the patience to cope. The stories of people being strip searched at the border as...
This article from Mmegi in Botswana about the Miss Stigma Free 2006 pageant gladden my heart. I know beauty pageants are frowned upon these days in the liberalised northern hemisphere but they're big business all over sub-saharan Africa."I am very happy to have won this crown. I feel that I have achieved what I wanted. This will give me a chance to pursue my mission of sensitising the public about HIV/AIDS," said the jubilant Regina Lesole after she was crowned Miss Stigma Free 2006.Lesole, former teacher and counsellor at Mahalapye Tebelopele Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre scooped the crown during a colourful event held at Orapa and Letlhakane mines Sports hall. The annual pageant is designed to encourage people to eradicate HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination and to...
This editorial from The Voice in Botswana caught my eye. It points to a very worrying trend facing those living with HIV in sub-saharan Africa. As I've alluded to in previous posts non-adherence to treatment is a big issue in Bots!'There were two related reports that emerged at the recently ended 16th International AIDS conference in Toronto that caught our attention and hopefully the attention of every responsible citizen who don't want to see this country's human resources decimated by HIV /AIDS.These are the reports that TB strains resistant to first and second line drugs have been found among HIV-Positive people in our neighbour, South Africa and another one which states that first line drugs are no longer working for a growing number of people living with HIV who are now in need of...
One of the amazing sights one can see in Botswana is a river with no water. This is a picture of the Shashe River just outside Francistown. In the rainy season it is full of water but in the dry season one would not even know that it's a river! When the rain starts to fall one finds 4x4 vehicles off-roading in the river. Great fun!The Thembinkosi Foundation promotes the interests of those affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa....
All profits made through the charitable side of the Thembinkosi Foundation are shared between a number of organisations we are associated with in Zambia. Later we hope to venture into Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa but as for now we are a growing organisation and we know our limitations.We are supporting the work of the Zambian Alliance of Women (ZAW). ZAW exists to promote the interests of women and children. It is committed to empowering women and does a wonderful job on a shoestring budget.We are also supporting a number of 'Home Based Care' projects. Many Zambians carrying the HIV virus do not have access to treatment and certainly cannot afford hospital care. Home Based Care projects, often staffed by individuals who are HIV positve themselves, exist to support the weak and...
Three years ago whilst living in Francistown, Botswana I wasa regular visitor to Zimbabwe. Every other weekend my family and I would cross the border into Zims with groceries for our relatives. We did not cross the border exclusively to assist otehrs though; we crossed because we loved the warm welcome and happy atmosphere of Bulawayo. On our recent trip we didn't enter Zim. We received mixed advice about the wisdom of doing so. With the benefit of hindsight I think we should have have gone - to visit family but also to see for ourselves how things have changed. It was only the fear of harrassment from the police that detered me. I have always coped with it previously but this time I just felt I didn't have the patience to cope. The stories of people being strip searched at the border as...
This article from Mmegi in Botswana about the Miss Stigma Free 2006 pageant gladden my heart. I know beauty pageants are frowned upon these days in the liberalised northern hemisphere but they're big business all over sub-saharan Africa."I am very happy to have won this crown. I feel that I have achieved what I wanted. This will give me a chance to pursue my mission of sensitising the public about HIV/AIDS," said the jubilant Regina Lesole after she was crowned Miss Stigma Free 2006.Lesole, former teacher and counsellor at Mahalapye Tebelopele Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre scooped the crown during a colourful event held at Orapa and Letlhakane mines Sports hall. The annual pageant is designed to encourage people to eradicate HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination and to...
This editorial from The Voice in Botswana caught my eye. It points to a very worrying trend facing those living with HIV in sub-saharan Africa. As I've alluded to in previous posts non-adherence to treatment is a big issue in Bots!'There were two related reports that emerged at the recently ended 16th International AIDS conference in Toronto that caught our attention and hopefully the attention of every responsible citizen who don't want to see this country's human resources decimated by HIV /AIDS.These are the reports that TB strains resistant to first and second line drugs have been found among HIV-Positive people in our neighbour, South Africa and another one which states that first line drugs are no longer working for a growing number of people living with HIV who are now in need of...
One of the amazing sights one can see in Botswana is a river with no water. This is a picture of the Shashe River just outside Francistown. In the rainy season it is full of water but in the dry season one would not even know that it's a river! When the rain starts to fall one finds 4x4 vehicles off-roading in the river. Great fun!The Thembinkosi Foundation promotes the interests of those affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa....
One of the amazing sights one can see in Botswana is a river with no water. This is a picture of the Shashe River just outside Francistown. In the rainy season it is full of water but in the dry season one would not even know that it's a river! When the rain starts to fall one finds 4x4 vehicles off-roading in the river. Great fun!The Thembinkosi Foundation promotes the interests of those affected by HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa....