Flick a peek into the plight of orphans

EPHRAIM KEORENG
Staff Writer | Thursday October 29, 2009 00:00

This is the pivot upon which the story of a poor orphan, Maikutlo, who in search for a home to rest is suddenly attacked by hooligans, revolves. The assailants take away her bags - her only two possessions. They try to rape her as they forcibly manhandle her.

But as fate would have it, a knight in armour comes in the form of Pinkie's husband, who after shaking off the hooligans in a momentary fistfight, manages to free the orphan. He takes her to his home, where his wife the temperamental Pinki is.

The flick, Kgang Tsa Boswa, written and directed by directors of the successful O Bone O Ja Sereto series, Cathy D, Kago Rasefako and Robert Dargie captures the theme of orphans; giving us a peep into the sad reality that orphans go through the tough challenges as they try to find the basics of life - shelter and food. Maikutlo is subjected to the most barbaric treatment when she arrives at Pinki's home. Pinki does not see her as an orphan looking for shelter and loving care, but rather a nubile lady who might usurp her position of the 'lady of the house', enticing her (Pinki's) husband into loving her. The abrasive treatment of Maikutlo here by another woman explains the foibles of women, especially in dealing with social problems like poverty. Instead of helping out Maikutlo, Pinki is jealous because she fears she would lose her husband to this beautiful young woman. Jealousy has always been blamed for being a cause for women's bane. Even at this stage when there is talk globally of empowering women and helping them attain 30 percent representation in leadership positions, women continue to be held back by jealousy; they would rather sabotage one another than help each other. Botswana, which is fresh from a general election, is a good example, where though there were a lot of female voters than their male counterparts, only two women candidates were voted to Parliament. Jealousy, as some women had pointed out, played its part in this outcome.

Like hawks, ever-watchful of the social events and nuances that define the constantly changing society, Cathy D, the scriptwriter of this flick, 'Kgang tsa Boswa' has tried her utmost to give us an honest reflection of the Botswana society at play. Botswana has a lot of orphans, especially due to the fact that HIV/AIDS has been claiming some lives. As fate would have it, Maikutlo has been left inheritance by an Good Samaritan whom she used to help run businesses. Unaware of her riches Maikutlo continues to suffer the ill-treatment meted out by Pinki whose rage and jealousy (that Maikutlo's beauty will lure her husband) grows by the day. On the denouement stage, Pinki scalds Pinki with an electric iron for a flimsy excuse: 'I warned you that you were wasting electricity. Why do you leave the power on whilst the iron is hot?' she scolds Maikutlo before going on to put the hot iron on the poor orphan's back. It is this action that further reveals a lot to everyone's consternation, that Maikutlo is actually the daughter of Pinki and her husband, born at a time when the two were dating. She had been left in the wilderness by Pinki, who did not want a child whilst she was so young. Like a creator god, the scriptwriter weaves her way around the plot, packing it with emotions, where the characters shout, cry and shout out in joy as they try to grapple with the overwhelming feelings of loss, frustration and contentment as mother and father find child and vice-versa. Get yourself a copy of both parts One and Two and enjoy this emotional roller- coaster of a flick.