This 61-year-old Mosarwa woman lives with her family of 13 in a temporary shelter. In inclement weather conditions, they have to cook inside the hovel and sleep there as well.All 14 are unemployed and the monthly food hampers do not last long enough to get to the next ration. News broadcasts? What? No one has a radio set in this household, Qhwale says.A young woman in Qhwale's neighbourhood says the only source of news is the Daily News which arrives at this Kgalagadi Desert village every afternoon. Qhwale says they often get gifts of clothing, mainly castoffs, from Bakgalagadi. "We also get a bit of help from social workers because we once approached their office," she adds. Thankfully, Qhwale and her large family will soon have a more permanent structure for a home, thanks to Botswana Council of Churches that is building a 'Two-And-A-Half' for them under the Presidential Housing Appeal.There is a standpipe nearby. The local councillor Kemmonye Makatane says it is prepaid and one family is allowed to use 210 litres of water per day.
Just a stone's throw away from the Qhwale's lies Xhuse Lefatshe's yard. She has two makeshift structures that serve as houses. Lefatshe tells Mmegi that she stays with only one of her five children because the rest have acquired plots of their own. People once came to assess her situation and said they would communicate with the social workers about her case. She still has to hear from them, and nurses the hope that she will get a house.Makatane refutes allegations that Basarwa have been pushed to the outskirts of the village. "They have been staying there until 2010 when the landboard and district leadership reached a resolution after consultations to give them certificates so they are not considered squatters," he says.As Remote Area Dwellers, Basarwa generally qualify for monthly food hampers, destitute and orphanage, as well as the Presidential Housing Appeal. "They do not know because they just see donations coming and never ask who or why they are donated," says Makatane."He is thankful to the council as it is trying to make services available. Makatane says some people have graduated from the programmes and are now funded by Skills Share International. According to the councillor, people who have more than five cows do not qualify for poverty eradication programmes."I am hopeful that there has been a policy review," he says. "Initially, people in bigger villages like Kang did not benefit from projects like tannery because of the settlement policy."
