When Badimo call, you cannot decline

Take Sangoma Mantho Kgakge of Mokwena ward in Pilikwe. For starters, Kgakge is one of the few sangomas found in the area if not in the country making her one of the revered if not feared traditional doctors around. But how did she get the call to be a sangoma given the fact that there are very few Batswana in the trade? "I got called to be a sangoma as a young person because I was sickly as a child.  Many traditional doctors told my father that they could not heal me since my sickness required the intervention of Badimo (ancestors) while on the other hand, western doctors tried in vain to help," she said.

In his quest to find a cure for his daughter, Keakelwe Kgakge took her to many healers. One such healer was a man known only as Semphethathogo who used to stay in Pilikwe. The healer said the only way the child could be saved was by answering the badimo's call. An aunt visited a church in South Africa where she was asked to urge the young Kgakge to answer her call.