Frontlines of my life

Botswana is a middle income country in Southern Africa, when it got independence it was one of the poorest countries in Africa and it has seen rapid growth over the past 50 years. Last year we were celebrating 50 years of independence and there are so many things which are worth celebration.

Growing up, my father was the only one working, he was working at the BCL mine as a crew boss, that means he didn’t earn much and as the only earner in the family he had to take care of all the 6 children and the extended relatives who stayed with us and also those who were back at the village. So we lived from pay check to pay check. But I can proudly say my father never had to worry about our education, medical health bills because our government took care of that. The only thing that I had to do when it came to education was to make sure that I pass, for the government to continue paying for my education. Since independence the Government of Botswana has been giving free education from primary to tertiary level, and our natural resources afforded our government with this opportunity.

I am very proud of my country to have been prudent when it comes to natural resources stewardship. I can confidently say I have never heard sound of a gun fire, except during the celebration ceremonies, and for me to see a gun was also during those ceremonies. This is how ‘peaceful’ our country is, even the Police Officers do not carry guns. To this day it is still one country which I believe is the perfect place to raise children. I LOVE BOTSWANA...

But..all is not perfect , gender inequality is robbing us the beauty of our country. This inequality is very much perpetrated by our culture which has infiltrated even our education system. Even though education is still free it is not accessible to all, especially women and girls, due to cultural and structural violence in the country .If we can deal with these inhibitors I believe we will see many women and girls reaching their highest potential.

This is one issue I want to change in my country “Gender Inequality” as long as there is gender inequality; we can never enjoy ‘real peace’. I have come to this conclusion that the peace we have is what some scholar’s term negative peace. There is need for policy realignment, cultural interrogation at all levels.

I want to see every girl child going to school without being worried about being raped on their way to/back from school, not being worried of who will take care of their sick mother back home, not being worried about that male teacher who have been asking for sexual favors, not being worried that as soon as they reach primary school they will be taken out of school to get married to someone who is old enough to be their grandfather, and be turned to child bearing machines.

So many women and girl’s future have been destroyed by this inequality; some have even lost their lives, while some a now living with some form of disability. Most of them are now packed in the unskilled labor market, trying their best to make ends meet, while some are unemployed.

But the other challenge that countries like Botswana face; those which are so called middle income countries, the international assistance have been cut, which makes it very difficult to get funding to deal with some of the social ills.

I know that this is the challenge I am faced with and I will continue to face, as I devote myself to fighting these injustice, but I will firmly stand through it all to achieve the future that I hope for.