GBV awareness walk to kill the silence
Maureen Odubeng | Tuesday October 18, 2022 06:00
Sadly, while GBV statistics offer an idea of how huge a problem GBV is, the fact remains that many of the cases go unreported and mostly women and children continue to suffer at the hands of their male counterparts.
All children deserve to grow up in a healthy nurturing, and loving environment, but there are still many who grow up seeing violence within their family, to a point of seeing the situation as a normal way of life.
This painful reality has prompted a young Motswana woman Farida Khan Matlhare, to establish a foundation called Farida’s Love For Mother and Child Trust. Registered in 2021, Matlhare is already engaged in assisting less privileged families with food parcels.
While the foundation is still young, Matlhare has hit the ground running as she is organising a walk under the theme, ‘No More Silence: Let's Blow The Whistle On Gender Based Violence (GBV)'. The walk, which is scheduled to take place on December 3, will start with a campaign walk from the Three Dikgosi Monument to Gaborone City Council (GCC). The campaign walk which aims to raise awareness of the damaging effects of GBV and also touch on issues of poverty eradication in the community will be supported by the Botswana Bikers Association which has committed to riding alongside those who will participate in the walk.
The foundation has invited the city mayor, Austin Abraham, to participate as the chief walker. The walk, according to Matlhare, will finish with speeches from different speakers including a GBV survivor, a representative from the Botswana Bikers Association, Piero Oteng Dipheko, representatives from different NGOs that deal with issues of GBV, as well representatives from government.
Matlhare explained that having experienced the pains of being a victim of emotional abuse throughout her childhood, she could not just fold her arms when she continues to witness women and children suffering because of the scourge that is GBV, and she decided to do something about it.
“The foundation exists for the purpose of providing a safe haven for mothers and children who are suffering due to GBV. Through the foundation, we also intend to assist the government to alleviate poverty focusing more on women and children who are victims of GBV. We will also work with victims of GBV and find ways to empower these women to ensure that they are self-reliant and won't have to stay in abusive relationships due to economic circumstances,” she explained
As a build-up to the walk, which will take place during the 16 Days of Activism against GBV, the foundation has been donating food parcels to the less privileged in different areas in Gaborone including Tawana, Tsholofelo, and Extension 27.
“It is heartbreaking to see that we have so many families who struggle to put food on the table, while we are still struggling to get sponsors, we managed to put a smile on the faces of a number of families by donating food parcels throughout the week,” she said.
Matlhare explained that one of the short-term goals is to donate food to the underprivileged, donate school uniforms for children whose parents might not otherwise afford to buy them uniforms, and pay for personal development and skills transfer for single mothers faced with unemployment and living in abject poverty.
The foundation’s long-term goal is to build shelters for abused women and children.
“Our aim is to not only build houses that will provide temporary shelter to accommodate mothers and children seeking refuge but to also partner with learning institutions and companies to empower the women we accommodate and develop their skills in their area of interest to ensure that those who lack financial independence may develop skills and guidance to assist them towards being self-reliant and providing for their families,” she said.