In Botswana a number of women have contributed and run with the campaign of equality for all.
Keabonye Ntsabane, Gender Links Coordinator in Botswana, is one woman who is worth mentioning among the many who advocate for gender equality. Fifty-five year-old Ntsabane has always had an interest in the fight for gender equality since the 1990s when she was working as an information officer at Women's Non-governmental Coaliation in Botswana.
"At that time there were only 15 people and the organisation was the umbrella for other NGOs that had interest in gender issues. At first I did not have it in me and it all started as a job, not a calling as many might say," she said.
She however developed interest in gender issues when she was doing her Higher National Diploma in Britain from 1999 to 2001. "It was there that I realised that these issues need attention," she said.
She revealed that she first entered the limelight when the United Nations Development Programme advertised for volunteers to work hand in hand with the UN in fighting against gender violence. "I applied and I am very proud that I was the first Motswana to do it. I think I am the one who opened doors for Batswana to start volunteering to work with the UN in Botswana," she said.
She said that with support and encouragement from colleagues, she has managed to climb the ladder to the post of Gender Links Coordinator in Botswana. "I dropped out of school when I was doing Form Two, but I never gave up. I took advantage of every opportunity to make a living. I went to Tlokweng Teachers Training College and later became a primary school teacher," she revealed.
She says that although she is in the forefront fighting for gender equality, she was at first challenged to do what she could at a small scale. "At that time there were few people talking about gender issues and I was challenged to talk and write just simple books on such issues," she said. She has written books such as 'Monate Botlhoko', which talks, mainly about relationships and gender issues.
She said that she also got her inspiration from an award she was given by the British Council in 1999 for the remarkable work that she was doing on gender based issues, irregardless of her little education considering that there were few people advocating for equality at that time.
