Tlokweng celebrates June 16 in style

Kgomotso Molelekeng
Correspondent | Monday June 18, 2012 00:00

 

The day also commemorates the infamous June 16, 1976 Sharpeville Masaccre resulting from  black students protests in apartheid South Africa against the Bantu education. The apartheid government's law enforcement agencies reacted by shooting at the unarmed young pupils. At Tlokweng which was the  main centre for all the national June 16 activities, the theme was 'the rights of children with Disability: the duty to Protect, Respect, Promote and Fulfill'.

Assistant Minister for Local Government  Botlogile Tshireletso, Tlokweng kgosi Puso Gaborone, MP Olebile Gaborone and UNICEF country representative Dr Doreen Mulenga, were some of the dignitaries that graced the Tlokweng activities.Officially opening the activities,  Tshireletso said the day presents an opportunity to reflect on the work of all actors committed to the rights of children on the continent and to consolidate efforts in addressing the obstacles to realising these rights.

She further said that this year's theme was chosen by the African Committee of experts on the rights, and welfare of the child. Tshireletso noted that in Botswana the government has put in place health immunisation programmes for the prevention and early detection of disability in children although many disabilities continue to occur as a result of preventable diseases such as poliomyelitis, meningitis and others' she said.Mulenga said this year's theme is relevant and resonates well with what needs to be done to address the current challenges faced by children with disabilities worldwide.

'In today's world, children with disabilities and their parents face challenges that many of us have never had to contemplate, challenges related to access to specialised services, specialised medical treatments and specialised equipment' she said.She further said that instead of complaining about the many challenges before us, we can decide to engage immediately, to apply what we have learned and to invest in workable solutions by seizing every opportunity put before us.The cherry on top was a recital by a form III student Goabaone Mokgosi from Ramotswa CJSS who emphasized that disability is not inability. 'As a nation it is our responsibility to ensure that no child is denied the opportunity to realise his or her full potential on the basis of living with a disability' she said