HRDC Celebrates BOT50 In A Breathtaking Setswana Way

Staff Writer | Monday September 26, 2016 15:43

Staff, board members and affiliated organisations thronged the BOT50 party clad in Setswana attire, which was rich in celebrating the cultural diversity this nation is rich with. Minister of education and skills development, Unity Dow said while 50 years might look short in the life of an individual, for a nation it is a milestone hence every reason to celebrate the golden jubilee.

“As we celebrate we are taking a moment to pause, to look at the past, the present and imagine the future,” she said.  She added that though challenges are there, the country comes a long way from gaining independence amidst a drought in 1966 , and economic challenges to where it is today.

For instance, she said so much has been achieved in the education sector from the days when it was paid for, and when sending children to school brought with it challenges like separating pupils from their parents.

“Back then education was hard,” she said.

“It meant food had to be divided among parents who stayed in the cattlepost or lands with their school going children in the village. Moreover, agriculture as the sole backbone of the economy then suffered as sending children to school meant reduced labour as well,” she added. Therefore, she urged all to introspect and see why the celebration is worthwhile. Though economic prosperity has not happened for all for, Dow said Batswana need to learn from the past to better their future.  Above all, she urged Batswana not to lose their cultural identity as the country grows economically and in every aspect. The perception that development means forsaking a people’s way of doing things and celebrating the other, which she said is disturbing and becoming rampant.

“We must question everything that suggests the other is important than our own,” said Dow.

Moreover, she said the time has come for the different cultures to embrace and celebrate the diversity as the oneness and unity that Botswana has been able to build in the past 50 years of self-rule.

Also present at the occasion were people born in 1966, who gave an account of how it is like to be born at the time and the significance of celebrating with what was then a hopeless Southern African nation.