Women Of Jazz Raise P90,000 For Childline

LEKOPANYE MOOKETSI
Correspondent | Monday August 9, 2010 00:00

The women of jazz ensemble, comprising Punah Gabasiane, Kearoma Rantao, Nono Siile and Nnunu Ramogotsi raised P90,000 during a dinner dance. 

The women of song serenaded the guests with their melodies. 

They sang their hearts out as if they were paid for the concert.  This was not their first time to perform for charity.  They started the show performing together and then went solo.  Each of the four women proved to be a star in her own right.

It was the young Rantao who started the individual performances as she rendered Afro jazz beats.  Rantao has South African township influence in her music.  She belted out her hit track, Afrika, which is yet to be recorded.  Rantao set the stage for what turned out to be a great performance by the women of jazz.  The next on the stage was Nnunu and just like the previous artist, she gave out her best.  Nnunu delighted the audience with her song, Tsie.  Nnunu's music is motivated by the rural set up under which she was raised.

Nono and Punah who closed the show, also gave awesome performances. 

Former Miss Botswana Sumaiya Marope, who is also volunteering her services at Childline, was one of the directors of ceremonies.

A youth volunteer, Layani Makwinja who has just walked 437 km from Francistown to Gaborone for Childline, spoke about her walk.  To her, it was such an amazing experience.  She said everyday they set themselves to cover a certain distance. 

She said the people in the villages that they passed by, showed great hospitality. Makwinja said the RB II crew, which was phoning her on daily basis, kept her going.   She saluted everyone who offered support Her father who told her that it was not important how much she collected, but what was significant was the fact that she had raised awareness about Childline also inspired Makwinja.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Dorcas Makgato-Malesu who was the guest of honour graced the dinner dance. Officiating at the dinner concert, Makgato-Malesu said it was a pity that Childline, which offers unique services, should find itself in financial dire straits.   Makgato-Malesu said everyone was aware of the impact the global economic crisis has done to all sectors of the economic worldwide.

She said Botswana as a middle-income country has also been affected as some international donors pulled out their aid.  'The onus was therefore left to the government and the private sector to bear the responsibility of funding some non-governmental organisations (NGOs).'  She said with the global economic downturn came the budgetary cuts, which dealt a blow to NGOs.

She noted that the problem that Childline Botswana is facing is not a unique one, but rather one that most NGOs in the country has to deal with.

She said there is no doubt that the need for the services offered by Childline Botswana is still as prevalent as it was when the organisation was first established 19 years ago.  In her view, this is evidenced by the rising statistics. 

Makgato-Malesu said she had been informed that the organisation's shelter was always filled to capacity with a waiting list of children from all over the country.  She revealed that currently the centre is full with 21 children, all toddlers below the age of five years. 

'This,' she said, 'is undoubtedly a very expensive programme because it is difficult to raise children at that stage of development.' 

Makgato-Malesu said she has also been informed that it costs P150 a day to take care of one child.  'That is a lot for any organisation without a reliable source of income,' she said.

She commended Childline for taking the initiative to act on their dire financial situation by engaging in various fund-raising initiatives. 

She also commended the women of jazz for offering their services to Childline.  She said it was not every day that 'one finds young people who are still in the dawn of their careers who can sacrifice potential profits for a charitable and worthy cause'.