Giving a keynote address at the 7th annual Masiela Trust Fund Gala Dinner co-sponsored by Gabz FM on Friday night at Ditshupo Hall, Gavin noted that there is still a substantial difference between knowing when something is true and taking any kind of personal responsibility to address and tackle the issue. She said that in every society, no matter how admirable it is, there are people who take advantage of defenceless children in terrible ways while others neglect the young who are not equipped financially, emotionally and physically to care for themselves.
Gavin attributed child negligence to orphanhood as a result of AIDS deaths among parents and entire networks of extended families, neighbors and teachers. She observed that affected children grow without a wide circle of healthy adult role models. "Even in societies where extended family networks normally would have absorbed children who lost their parents, AIDS still took a devastating toll that these networks were stretched far beyond limits," Gavin lamented.
